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(MLA/l(lkcu^ 




THE LIFE 



OF 



William A. Buckingham 



THE WAR GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT 



With a Review of His Public Acts, and Especially the 
Distinguished Services He Rendered His Country 
During the War of the Rebellion 



WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED 



A Condensed Account of the More Important Campaigns 

of the War, and Information from Private Sources 

AND Family and Official Documents. 



By Rev. SAMUEL G.^&CKINGHAM, D.D. 




SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — ^^^^^^^*) \J ^ 



THE \V. F. ADAMS COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 
1894. 



\s 






Copyrighted, 1894. 



CLARK W. BRYAN COMI'ANY 
PRINTERS, ELECTROTYI'ERS, BINDERS 
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 



'■ To ficciirc xxrh high piihlic interesis, the State of 
Connecticut will hinil her destiiiie.s '/iiore doseh/ t" tho.se of 
the Greneral irovernment, and i)i ((dopt'nKj the measures 
nKjjieHted, she icil] loire^erredb/ jdedjic <dl Iter 'pecuniary 
and phyalcal re^oiirces and all her moral p)oweTi<r 



Dkdicatei) 

TO TFiE People OF Connecticut 

HY One of Her Sons 

AS A Tribute to Another. 



CONTENTS. 



The Buckingham Family. 



GOVEBNOK Bl't'KINfJHAM's HOME AND TRAINING, - - - . 4, 

CHAPTER 1. 
The Country Before the War, - - - - - - - 17 

How Slavery was at First Regarded— The Expectation that it Would at Last Cease 
to Exist— Agreements for Its Restriction Broken— The Missouri Compromise, 
Fugitive Slave Law and Kansas Question— Birth of the Republican Party. 

CHAPTER ][. 
Mr. Buckingham's Election in 1858, ----- 31 

Financial and Social Troubles of the Time— Events of the Next Two Years, Lead- 
ing to the Election of Mr. Lincoln and the Outbreak of the War— Governor 
Buckingham's Messages During the Period and His Recognition of the Real 
Situation. 

CHAPTER III. 
The Nomination of Mr. Lincoln, ------ 43 

The Election in Connecticut in the Spring of 1860— Its Importance to the Nation — 
The Frauds by which Democratic Politicians Sought to Carry the State— Gover- 
nor Buckingham's Re-election— Lincoln's Campaign— His Acquaintance with 
Governor Buckingham and Its Effect— The Presidential Election of I860. 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Secession Movement, - - ------ 63 

Its Growth Traced from the Nullification Days— Breaking Up of Mr. Buchanan's 
Cabinet— His Own Partial Change of Opinion— How and Why South Carolina 
Forced Secession— Most of the Slave States Averse to It. 



viii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 
Peace Convention, ------ - - 74 

The Connecticut Delegation in the Washington Convention— Governor Bucking- 
ham's Letter of Instructions— (:;onnectiour's Proposition tor a Convention on 
Amendment of the Constitution— rhe Attitude of Virginia and the Report in 
Congress. 

CHAPTER VI. 
Mr. Lincoln Inaugurated, -------- 93 

His Speeches on the Journey to Washington, and the Light they Throw on His 
Character— The Plot to Kill Him on the Way— The Inauguration— Mr. Bu- 
chanan's Character. 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Breaking Out of the War, ------ 109 

Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet and the Views Held by its Members and by Him — The Bom- 
bardment of Fort Sumter— The Purpose of South Carolina Accomplished. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Uprising ok the People, - - - - - - 118 

How the News of the Pall of Sumter was Received at the Nortii— The Call for 
75,000 Men— Southern States, Not in Secession, Refuse to Obev It— The Demon- 
stration of Patriotism at the North— How Arms liad been Traitorously Secured 
by the South. 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Call to Arms in Connecticut, - - - - - - 128 

Governor Buckingham Calls for Troops and Pledges his Private Fortune to Equip 
Them— The People and the Legislature Respond with Equal Patriotism— Camps 
of Enlisted Men at Hartford. New Haven and Norwich— Washington Cut Off— 
Governor Buckingham's Message to the President and How it was Sent and Re- 
ceived — The Early Volunteers — Governor Buckingham's Understanding of the 
Situation— Count de Gasparin's " Uprising of a Great People." 

CHAPTER X. 
The Session of the Legislature, 1861. ----- 154, 

The Outbreak of the War — Governor Buckingham's Prompt and A^igorous Support 
of the Government— His Pledge that no State Should Furnish More or Better 
Troops— His Correspondence with the War Department, and Sympathy with 
Their Embarrassments— His Remarkable Letter to the President and Recom- 
mendations in Resani to the Extra Se.ssiou of Congress Just Called — His Just 
Estimate of the Conflict and Couusel to Make Greater Preparations for It- He 
Binds the Destinies of tlie State to Those of the General Government, and 
Pledges all ller Resources to Sustain the Latter— The President's Call for More 
Troops Basefl on the Applicntion of the Loyal (iovernors— And he Gets Them 
The Governor Recommends that the State Loan its Credit to the General 
Government, Which is Done to the Extent of Two Million of Dollars- Extra 
Session of Congress, Julv 4, 180] —Battle of Bull Run, 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER XI. 
After the Battle of Bull Run, - 177 

Governor Buckingham Authorized to Raise More Troops— Volunteerin? Checked by 
Distrust of the Conduct of the War and the Influence of the *" Peace Demo- 
crats"— The AlaErnificent Troops that Volunteered in Spite of all such Influence 
—Character and Destination of the Regiments— The First Heavy Artillery and 
the First Light Battery. 



CHAPTER XII. 
The Year 1863, - - - - - - - - - - 202 

Review of the Situation up to J862— Progress of the War in the West and on 
the Coast— Governor Buckingham's Ite election— A Patriotic Legislature— The 
Peace Party in Connecticut— Demands that the Army of the Potomao Move. 



CHAPTER Xm. 
The Peninsular Campaign, 823 

The Magnificent Army of the Potomac— Its Movemeut on Richmond by Way of the 
Peninsula— The Ketreat Across the Chickahominy— The Week of Battles— Mal- 
vern Hill. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Further Calls foe Volunteers, ------ 247 

Two Requisitions for 300.000 Men Each in the Summer of 1863— Governor Bucking- 
ham's Proclamation— The Patriotic Response «.f the Men of Connecticut— Mr. 
Lincoln's Views as to Emancipation— Value of the Slaves— The Emancipation 
Proclamation Foreshadowed. 



CHAPTER XV. 
The Emancipation Proclamation, 1862, 256 

The Prer^ident's Decision in Regard to Emancipation— His Plan of Buying Off the 
NoithOi u Slave States and Paying Them for Tbeirfow Slaves— The Failure- His 
Correspondence with Mr. Buicroft— Hi-* Decision to Issue such Pnclaraatioii us 
soou as tbe (Government Should Have Gained Some Important Victory— It was 
Done after the Battle of Antietam. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
A Turning Point in the War, 270 

Effect of the Battles of Vicksburg ard Getrvsburg— New Development of the Peace 
Partv at This Very Time- The Draft Riots— Governor Buckingham's Vindica- 
tion for Lending Arms to Koep the Peace— The Several Calls for Troops— Con- 
neolicut's Record- No Draft in the Stat*". 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

CONNKCTICUT SOLDIERS, _ -------- 289 

Why Many Officers wore Chosen from Civil Life— Their H'inirable Tiecoid ia the 
Servi e— The \Vork of Equipping Enlisted Regiments— Training Camps— Gover- 
nor Bnckinrham"-* Personal Care lor S )idiers in tne Field, and the Respect he 
Paid to Men who Fought for the Union. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The First National Thanksgiving, - 307 

It was Brightened by News from Chattan :)oga— Relative Condition of the Northern 
' and Southern vrmi^-s at tais Time— Presidenr, Lincoln .it tne Gettyshur? Ceme- 
tery— Popular Fet-ling— The Battle Hymn of the Reformation. 

CHAPTER XIX. 
General Grant at the Head of the Armies, - - - 325 

The Change in Methods Wheu the Arm/ Ci,me Under His Cwmmfcind— Tne Series of 
Flink Movements on Richmond— Tho Only 13;ittle Grant "Would Not Fight 
Again "—A Pause After the Terrible Losst s on Each Side. 



CHAPTER XX. 
Sherman's Campaign in Georgia. 342 

The Capture of Atlanta and Removal of tlio Inhabitants— Preparing for the March 
to the Sea — Capture of Savannah. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
The Elections in 1864, - - - 360 

Governor Buckingham Again Re-elected— The Voting of Soldiers in the Field- Gov- 
ernor Buckingham's Words on Sluvery in His Message— Adoption of the Thir- 
teenth Amendment— Mr. Lincoln Re-elected. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
The Last Year of the War, ------- 370 

Review of the Situation— Fight in Mobile Bay— Sherman in Georgia — Grant's In 
vestment of Petersburg — Evacuation of Richmond— Decisive Battle at Sailor's 
Creek. 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER XXIII. a87 

Surrender of the Two Principul Confederate Armies— Negotiations for Surrender— 
DifBciilties in the Way Made Unconditional— Magnanirrity of the Union com- 
manders— Its Appreciation hv i he Confederates— No More Fighting— The Relief 
of tha South— The Joy of the North. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
Assassination of Mr. Lincoln. ------ 408 

The CoLspiratortt and Crime — Their Trial aLd Punishment — Effect Upon the Nation 
—Testimonials of Respect and <Ttief— The Funeral Procession to His Burial 
Place — Strange Tribute from the World's Great Caricaturist. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The War Over, ---------- ;i4 

The Cost of the War- Measure-s Taken to Stop the Expenses — Grand Review and 
Disbandment of the Army — Difference Between Eastern and Western Troops- 
Equal Tributes Paid to Both by their Two Great Commanders. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
A Visit to Richmond, - - 420 

Person.. 1 Observations in the City Soon After its Evacuation— The Temper of 
the Peoplb — The Disposition to Accept the Result, of the War and Cultivate 
Friendship. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Governor Buckingham's Re-election in 1865, - - 430 

Close i.f the War— -^ hat Connecticut Had Done— The Loyal Governors— Recon- 
struction Begun in Confess and in the States— The Adoption of th? Xlllth 
Amendment by Connecticut- Acquiescence in it by the South— Testimony of a 
Southern Bishop. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Great Britain Called to Account for Building Confederate 
Cruisers, ---------- 439 

The Alabama— Our Claims for Damages— The Geneva Award-" How I Ran into the 
Builder of the Alabama "—Napoleon Ill's Latin Kingdom in Mexico Disposed of 
by Our " Monroe Doctrine." 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
United States Senator, -------- 452 

Governor Buckingbam's Term in the Senate— His Share in Maintaining What Had 
Been Gained by the War- Some of His Work— His Death Shortly Before the Ex- 
piration of His Term of Office. 



XU CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Estimates of Character and Service, ----- 462 

Extracts from the Newspaper Articles Drawn out by Governor Buckingham's Death 
— Eulogies in Congress— The Funeral Services. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Personal Traits of Character, ------ 494 

Governor Buckingham's Connection with Christian and Benevolent Associations— 
The Firjt 'I'riennial Consrreirational Council— His Ability as its Moderator — His 
istyle of Writing and Address— Photograph Cop7 of Uis Letter to the President 
in Transmitting their Paper on the "State of the Country." 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Buckingham Day, -..-----. 508 

Unveilinsr of ihe Statue— How Ordered and How Dedicated— Gathering of Old 
Soldiers— Ceremonies and Ad:!resses — statue Placed Among the Battle Flags. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
To THE People of Connecticut, ------ 521 

A Reminder of What They Have Been— What Made Them What They are- The 
Character They Have to Maintain. 

Index, - 533 



THE BUCKINGHAM FAMILY. 

Thomas Buckingham, the first of the name in this coun- 
try, was one of the colony that settled New Haven, Ct. 
The company came over during the summer of 1637, passed 
the winter in Boston, and sailed around to Quinnipick, the 
Indian name of their future home, the next spring. This, as 
the historian Trumbull says, was the most opulent com- 
pany which came into New England. Mr. Eaton and Mr. 
Hopkins had been merchants in London, possessed great 
estates, and were men of eminence for abilities and integrity. 
They had with them for their clergyman Mr. Davenport, a 
famous minister in the city of London. And the fame of 
Mr. Davenport, the reputation and good estates of the 
principal gentlemen of the company, made the people of 
Massachusetts, says the historian, desirous of their settle- 
ment in that Commonwealth. It appears from the original 
records, that Thomas Buckingham, as one of the colonists, 
received his allotment of land near the corner of College 
and Crown streets, New Haven, not far from the spot where 
the large spreading oak stood, under which Mr. Davenport 
preached his first sermon on the temptations of the wil- 
derness, and where Dr. Lyman Beecher was afterwards born. 

But new settlements were to be made, and as the colony 
possessed another minister, the next spring another church 
was organized, and Mr. Pruden settled over it, and this com- 
pany removed to Milford, ten miles west. Their mode of 
organizing a church was this: Seven men of Christian 
faith and exemplary life were chosen, who covenanted to- 
gether, and with God, to walk in all the ways and ordi- 



Z WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

nances of the Lord blameless. These men were styled 
" The Seven Pillars," and to these the other members were 
added. Among these Seven Pillars is found the name of 
Thomas Buckingham, and among the first to be joined to 
them, is Hannah his wife. Opposite his name, is entered 
upon the Church Records in the hand writing of the second 
minister, " dyed in Boston." * It seems that some seven- 
teen years after his removal to Milford, upon the death of 
his pastor, he was sent to the Bay to secure another minis- 
ter, where he died in 1657. 

He left a family of six children, two of them born in 
England. The youngest of them, Thomas, the direct 
ancestor of the Governor, was born at Milford in 1646, and 
became pastor of the church in Saybrook, Ct. This " Min- 
ister Buckingham," as he was called, held an honorable 
and useful position in the Connecticut colonies. He was 
one of the ten ministers who founded Yale College, and 
• had under his supervision and instruction a portion of the 
students, and for the eighteen years the college was located at ' 
Saybrook, and the commencements held there. He was also 
one of the moderators of the synod that framed the " Saybrook 
Platform," the system of faith and government upon which 
the churches of Connecticut were organized. He was like- 
wise the faithful friend of the Indians of Connecticut, and 
one in whom they confided. One of the sons of Uncas, the 
Mohigan Sachem, made Minister Buckingham an executor 
of his will and guardian of his children, and desired that 
his sons should receive an English education, and that he 
Iiimself should be buried at Saybrook, in a coffin, after the 
manner of the English. Here this good pastor died in 
1709, at the age of sixty-three, after a ministry of forty- 
four years, leaving behind him a large and estimable family. 
His family consisted of nine children, who all lived to grow 
up, and were married and settled in the town, and where 
.most of them remained for several generations. Indeed, it 



* Records of the First Church, Milford, Ct. 



WILLIAM A. RUCKINGHAM. 6 

"was not until the beginning of this century, that the father 
of the Governor left there and settled in Lebanon. 

Deacon Samuel Buckingham, the Governor's father, the 
fifth (5) in descent from the " minister," and sixth from the 
first settler, was born at Saybrook in 1770, where he lived 
until after his marriage and the birth of his eldest daughter, 
■when he removed to Lebanon in 1803. Here William 
Alfred Buckingham, " The War Governor " as he was 
termed, was born May 28, 1804. 



GOV. BUCKINGHAM'S HOA^E AND 
TRAINING. 

Lebanon, Ct., which lies on the old stage road from Nor- 
wich to Hartford, eleven miles from the former to the Brick 
Meeting House in Lebanon, is a typical New England town. 
The township is large, some six miles by eight in territory, 
and entirely devoted to farming. Its soil, a moist black 
loam, considerably stony, with plenty of mud in the spring, 
very green in the summer, and never so fresh as when 
there is drought elsewhere, makes it a good agricultural 
region. The principal street stretches along a ridge five 
or six miles, with the farms running down on each side 
into the valleys, and showing a substantial and thrifty popu- 
lation. The inhabitants are almost entirely of New Eng- 
land stock, proud of their town and of its history, and not 
unmindful of the number and character of the Governors 
they have furnished to the State, and their long term of 
service. This is no empty boast, for they have given the 
State five Governors, the three Trumbulls, Governor Bissell 
and Governor Buckingham together holding that office for 
a third of a century. The town never had a population of 
quite 4,000 ; still a century ago, when Hartford had barely 
6,000, and Farmington, which was larger, had only 6,000, 
the leading characters of the State were quite as likely to 
be found in such a community as elsewhere. For such 
towns were pretty sure to have an able ministry, good 
schools and good society. 

Dr. Solomon Williams, "among the most prominent of 
the New England clergy," was pastor there for fifty-four 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 5 

years (1722-1776). He was a graduate of Harvard College, 
a student as well as a pastor, accustomed to read in con- 
nection with his family devotions and translate from either 
the Greek or Hebrew Scriptures, and doing much to provide 
for the town the means of a higher education. For a long 
course of years Lebanon was distinguished for the best 
grammar school in any country town in Connecticut — the 
one taught by Mr. Nathan Tisdale, a Harvard graduate. 
This school was established chiefly by the efforts of Dr. 
Williams, and the consequence was that for many years 
the town was not only remarkable for its intelligence, but 
furnished more ministers of the Gospel than perhaps any 
other town of its size in the State. And not alone minis- 
ters were educated here, but men for every profession and 
pursuit in life, and "this school was so extensively and 
favorably known that it numbered among its pupils youth 
from almost every part of the country." Such intellectual 
and religious influences created a public sentiment there, 
and gave a character to society which has never been lost. 
The town can show a list of one hundred and fifty liberally 
educated men who were born there, and mostly educated at 
Yale College. To this day the town is not regarded as keep- 
ing up to its standard, unless two or three of its sons are in 
that university. 

Here was the home of the Trumbull family, who not only 
honored the gubernatorial office, but filled so many public 
positions with distinguished credit and usefulness. The 
father, " the War Governor of the Revolution," who held 
that office fifteen years, was Washington's " Brother Jona- 
than," his friend and counselor ; his son Joseph, commissary 
general of Washington's army ; Jonathan, Jr., paymaster in 
Washington's army, Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives in Congress, Senator in Congress and for eleven years 
Governor of the State ; David, assistant commissary general 
and father of Governor Joseph ; and John, the painter, 



6 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

whose historical works enrich our national capitol ; his 
daughter Faith, the wife of General Jedediah Huntington 
of the Revolutionary army, and his daughter Mary, the 
wife of William Williams, "signer of the Declaration of 
Independence." This last was a son of the old minister, 
and as true a patriot as the country saw. He sleeps with 
the rest in that "Trumbull tomb," in the old burying ground 
at Lebanon, which we venture to say contains as much 
patriotic and sacred dust as is garnered in any other. 

The place, too, had its history. Events have occurred' 
there important enough to inspire the noblest thoughts and 
prompt to heroic lives, while mixed with them was romance 
enough to stir the dullest natures. There is the governor's 
" War Office," still preserved, and in charge of the " Con- 
necticut Sons of the American Revolution," where the State 
Committee of Safety held its meetings all through the war, 
ten or fifteen hundred of them, and where Washington came 
to consult with the governor, and where our statesmen and 
officers of the army and the commanders of the French 
troops and fleet planned with him some of the important 
expeditions of the war, like that of Yorktown, which ended 
the war, and secured to us our independence. Here is where 
a squadron of French cavalry, under Count de Lauzun, en- 
camped for the winter and held their levees at the head- 
quarters of their gay commander, and where Washington 
reviewed five regiments of Count Rochambeau's army 
before they set out on their last and most distinguished 
campaign. 

Such things have their influence upon a community, and 
the subject of this memoir must have felt it. Indeed, w^e 
cannot help thinking, when he stood with the rest of us boys 
before that tomb in the old burying ground, where the dust 
of the Trumbulls and the Williamses was resting so quietly, 
that he was drinking in his best lessons of patriotism and 
noble living. And sure we are, that next to the fear of God 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 7 

and anxiety to please him, Connecticut's last " War Gov- 
ernor" was trying to be to the state and to the nation some- 
thing like the first " War Governor." It was in such a 
community and amid such surroundings that Governor 
Buckingham had his birth and early training. 

The Governor was born into a pleasant home and came 
under good influences. The house is one that his father 
built, and is among the best in the town, standing under 
lofty shade trees, with a plenty of fruit trees about it, and a 
good farm attached. Just beyond is " the Brick Meeting 
House," a remarkably fine country church, with its beautiful 
spire and noble, recessed entrance, the design having been 
furnished, it is said, by Trumbull, the painter. It is located 
at the south end of a common, a mile long and more than 
one-eighth of a mile wide, with a street and well-shaded 
houses on each side of it. It is not cleared of stone and 
graded, except at the two ends, and particularly about the 
church, for such a work completed was too much for the 
means of such a population. But such a building in such a 
setting is a striking feature in the landscape. After seeing 
it, and remembering the attractions and advantages which 
such a place would hold out to settlers, we are not surprised 
that his parents located there, for they appreciated good 
society, valued the means of education, and prized religious 
privileges. As the father said in giving his reasons for his 
selection : " I wanted a good farm, and then to be near the 
church, near the school, near the mill, and near the doctor." 

" Captain " Buckingham, as he was called in early life, 
having commanded a military company, or " Deacon" Buck- 
ingham, by which title he was known in after life, was an 
enterprising and thrifty farmer. He had one source of 
income, however, besides his farm, for when a young man, 
and before he left Say brook, he and two or three others built 
the first two fishing piers at the mouth of the Connecticut 
to take shad, and retained all his life his interest in these 



8 WILLIAM A. HUCKINOHAM. 

fisheries, which were worth as luuch to him as his fariu. 
But he was a careful and successful farmer, living comfort- 
ably, having the means of educating his children and of 
being public-spirited and benevolent, making his house the 
home of hospitality, and leaving behind him for those days 
a snug little property. He was fond of the cultivation of 
fruit, and before nurseries and grafted trees were common, 
raised fruit in abundance and of the choicest varieties. His 
buildings were always kept in good repair and painted as 
white as fresh paint could make them, so that his well- 
shaded and pleasant residence became a striking feature in 
the landscape, and gave a good idea of what the best New 
England homes were. 

He was active and liberal in maintaining good schools. 
After " Master Tisdale " died, and his school was given up, 
a select school was maintained under some college graduate 
for both sexes, but sometimes it became a school for yoimg 
ladies under superior instruction. Here his own ciiildren 
were educated until they needed better advantages, when 
they were all sent away to enjoy them. The church also, in 
which he was for many years a deacon, and of which he was 
such a revered and beloved member, found in him one of 
its best friends. To secure a good minister when he was 
needed ; to provide well for his support ; to build a parson- 
age, and then make his pastor's residence in it as comfort- 
able as possible ; in everything of this kind he naturally 
took a leading part, while his life exemplified the Gospel, 
and gave new force to preaching. He had a peculiar regard 
for ministers, prized their society, and loved to entertain 
them ; so that his house was familiarly called " The Minis- 
ters' Tavern." He loved good people and good things, and 
any good cause was likely to find in him a firm supporter 
and true friend. When the temperance reform commenced, 
he was the first to adopt its principles and carry them out 
in the management of his farm. Though told that he never 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 9 

could hire men to work for him, without furnishing them 
with ardent spirits in haying time at least, his reply was : 
*' I think I can by giving them more wages." And he not 
only succeeded in banishing New England rum from the 
farm, but New England cider also, when every comfortable 
farmer was expected to put into his cellar from ten to thirty 
barrels of it, to be drank up in the course of the year. He 
was too conscientious and benevolent to maintain a custom 
80 dangerous to individuals, and so injurious to the com- 
munity, when such easy protection could be furnished 
against its dangers. Thus his son was taught those strict 
temperance principles to which he scrupulously adhered all 
his life. 

In any delineation of the father's character, prominence 
should be given to his rare good judgment. He would not 
pretend to judge of subjects of which he had little or no 
knowledge, but upon matters with which he was acquainted, 
his opinions were definite and eminently wise. His habits 
of business were careful and exact, while his industry and 
thoroughness, combined with his good judgment, were quite 
sure to render his business plans successful. He was lib- 
eral toward public improvements, religious institutions, 
Christian missions and the poor about him, regarding him- 
self in all such matters as the steward of the Lord, who 
would be found faithful to his trust. In his own family he 
was full of tenderness and affection, while his ideas of duty 
and propriety were distinct and carefully insisted upon, 
nothing rude or unkind even in speech being permitted 
there, any more than what was vulgar and wicked any- 
where. The Governor might have been called " Bill " 
by his companions on the playground, but never in his 
father's house. He was himself a gentleman not only in 
speech and manners, but in his sentiments, and the courtesy 
and sincerity with which he entertained his guests were quite 
remarkable. He admired public men of ability and integ- 



10 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

rity — had great respect for honest folk, however humble- 
they might be — he loved all Christian people wherever he- 
found them, and character always weighed more with him 
than wealth or rank or talent. He profoundly revered his. 
Maker and had supreme faith in Jesus Christ his son, and 
like his Puritan ancestry, tried to " serve his generation 
according to the will of God, and having done so fell on sleep^ 
and was laid unto his fathers'," at the ripe old age of 
eighty, leaving to his family their best inheritance in the- 
principles he taught them, the example he set them, and 
the name he honored. 

His wife was Joanna Matson of Lyme, Ct., whose brothers- 
were prominent men in the town, one of them a venerable 
deacon in the Old Church there, while her sister was the 
mother of the late Chief Justice Waite of Connecticut, 
and grandmother of Chief Justice Waite of the United 
States Supreme Court, While the Govei-nor resembled his 
father most in personal appearance, and possessed his- 
father's rare business qualities, he inherited his mother's- 
temperament, her alertness of mind, her capacity for in- 
tense and unwearied activity, as well as her affectionate 
nature, tender sympathies and free-handed benevolence. 
She was a person of unaffected modesty, and all womanly 
delicacy, yet with great executive ability and such good judg- 
ment that her husband always consulted her in business, 
matters, and said after her death that he never succeeded 
well in any enterprise of which she did not fully approve. 
She was resolute of purpose, quick to provide for an emer- 
gency, and with fortitude equal to any crisis. Her brothers,, 
who were fond of horses, used to say: "Annie can ride any 
horse that we can ride." And in those times when so- 
much of traveling was done on horseback, this was not a 
mere accomplishment for a lady, but a necessary part of her 
education, so that every well-conditioned bride received,. 
on her marriage, as she did, her own riding horse, and side- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 11 

saddle and pillion, as much as her bridal dress, and family 
linen. — As showing her courage and prompt energy, when 
the Governor was a child, she once missed him, and flying 
to the well, thought the bright spot reflected from the sides^ 
was the head of her child upon the surface of the water. 
Without a moment's hesitation, she climbed down the wet 
and slippery sides of that well, thirty feet deep, till she could 
see to the bottom, and relieve her anxieties. In the spring- 
time, when the farm required the most attention, and her 
husband was obliged to spend six weeks at Saybrook, look- 
ing after his fisheries, she managed the farm. With all 
that was delicate and womanly, she possessed this capacity 
for anything that needed to be done, and when it was done^ 
it was with the propriety and grace with which only a 
woman can do every thing. But this was not her best 
sphere. In her family, with her husband and children, 
among her neighbors, with her guests, in the chamber of 
sickness, at the bedside of the suffering, there she was most 
at home and best beloved. Nothing could exceed the depth 
and tenderness of her domestic love, or the anxiety she felt 
about the habits, principles and religious character of her 
family. She used to plan wisely and comprehensively for 
her children, and was exceedingly desirous that they should 
be something and do something in the world, but her 
ambition was held in subordination to her piety, and she 
would always add to her encouragement and hopes : '• Well, 
whatever else you are, I want you to be Christians." With 
such a character, and such an influence, is it any wonder 
that she has left behind her a memory enshrined in the 
hearts of her children, somewhat like The Madonna\^ 
among good Roman Cathclics ? 

Perhaps no better idea of her character, or fitter tribute 
to her memory, can be given than was heard from her 
pastor years after her death, when he had removed to 
another town, where in age and infii-mity he occasionally 



12 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

occupied the pulpit. A friend of the family happening to 
pass a Sabbath there, was gratified to hear this reference to 
her as an illustration of the minister's subject : " When I 
became pastor of the church, to which for many years I 
ministered, I was struck wherever I went with the love 
and gratitude which all found out at the mention of one 
individual— That individual was the mother of our present 
good Governor — a noble son of a noble mother. Beneath 
every roof her name was most affectionately mentioned, as 
her memory now is sacredly cherished. I wondered how 
she had thus endeared herself to the hearts of that people. 
But when I saw her at the bedside of the sick and dying, 
ministering like an angel from above to their relief — when 
I saw her gifts scattered wherever they were needed — 
when I saw how little she spent upon herself and how 
cheerfully she gave to others ; I understood the secret. 
Others beside our Maker love such a spirit, and weep when 
it is withdrawn from the scenes of earth." 

Into such a home this child was born ; and there never 
was a warmer or safer nest, where with four other chil- 
dren — two sisters, and two brothers — he was trained for his 
life work. 

Asa boy the Governor had as much mischief, daring, 
recklessness, as most boys, and rather more. " There," said 
an old man who had been one of the companions of his 
boyhood, pointing to the roof of a neighboring house which 
hung high above a lower roof, and both too high to fall 
from without risking life, " William was once up there, 
and I was below, and I heard him cry : ' Catch me ! catcli 
me ! I'm falling ! ' — when down he came on that lower roof, 
and I caught him before he fell any further. And if I 
had not," he added, " I don't see how Connecticut could 
ever have had him for Governor." 

Connecticut's future " War Governor " was no doul)t 
being i-aised uj), and iiis very nerve, and courage, and dar- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. " 13 

in<r, which he would need so much, were being developed 
by the habits of his boyhood. He loved to climb the tallest 
tree, skate on the thinnest ice, and ride the wildest colt, — 
liere is where he acquired his fine horsemanship, so notice- 
able when he rode with his staff on parade Election Day. 
the day of the Governor's Inauguration, or when he had 
occasion to review his State troops. Every old veteran, 
whom he sent off in his regiments, or welcomed back, will 
recall his appearance on horseback. 

In this connection, it may be mentioned that the only 
acquaintance he ever had with military affairs, was as a 
member of a company or cavalry in his native town. He 
enlisted before he left home, and as he was required to do 
military duty somewhere, he preferred to do it there among 
liis old comrades, and so for years after his residence was 
in Norwich, the first Monday in May, and the first Monday 
in September, always found him in their ranks. Those 
Troopers were a famous set of 'boys in those times and in 
those parts. Their uniform was gorgeous — scarlet coats, 
white pantaloons, heavy, black bear skin cap, with white 
plume feathers and rod tip, the saddle with its holsters 
and valise, and horse with curbed bit and double reins, and 
showy housings. Then the horses, — not well trained, to be 
sure, but each the pride of some young farmer, — when in 
line making such a show, and in motion as they trotted off 
and especially on a full gallop, so formidable to our boyish 
eyes — Ijefore any of us knew anything of real war, — these 
gave us our ideas of Cromwell's " Ironsides that were never 
conquered," and Napoleon's legions which thundered over 
Europe. And what made this thundering part so real was 
their heavy cavalry pistol loaded to the muzzel, which they 
were always firing. — This leads me to refer to the most 
serious, and what came near being the most to be regretted 
rashness of the Governor's youth. He and his company 
were on their way to a regimental review, and riding up to 



14 • WILLIAM A. IU;rKlN(;ilAM. 

the Tavern, a squa4 of them, as was their habit, gave the 
inmates and th(! neighborhood a rousing salute. The 
tavern keeper, as he came to the door, received their dis- 
charge full in his face, and the Governor's charge went 
straight through his hat. Of course it was a matter of 
deep regret and ample apology. But the pleasant result 
of it was, that the one who was treated so roughly, was 
ever after one of the Governor's good friends, and we ven- 
ture to say that, whatever might have been his politics, if 
he lived to have the opportunity, he always voted for him. 
At any rate he never came to Norwich without calling 
upon the Governor, and once a year the Governor gave 
him a new hat. But whatever may have been the pranks 
of the Governor's boyhood, or the indiscretions of his youth, 
he kept his heart true and noble, and his morals pure. He 
was frank to acknowledge his faults and would take more 
than his share of the blame, and you could not make him 
tell a lie, while his sincere regret for his misconduct made 
you love the child, as his readiness to right the wrongs 
he might have done, secured respect and inspired confi- 
dence in the man. 

Governor Buckingham acquired most of his education in 
his native town. He was for a while in the Family School 
of a neighboring clergyman, then sent to the Bacon Acad- 
-emy at Colchester, and as he wished to become a land sur- 
veyor, a profession which at that time had some of the 
attractions of civil engineering now, and also had some 
State patronage, he was put into the field in charge of one 
of that profession. His love of mathematics, as well as 
his energetic {)hysical nature, prompted him in that direc- 
tion. But after trying it for a while, and then teaching 
successfully for a winter a common district school, he came 
home and worked for three years upon the farm. He 
always claimed that he did as much work as any of the 
hired men, and pointed in proof of it to the solid stone wall 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 15 

he laid, and which must stand there yet, to show that he 
was always good for any hard work that he was set to do. 
It was decided, however, that he should go into his uncle's 
•dry-goods store at Norwich, where he remained two years, 
and after spending a short time in a wholesale store in 
New York, he returned to Norwich, to begin business for 
himself. 

This began at Norwich in 1826. In 1830 he added to his 
■dry- goods trade the manufacture of ingrain carpeting. In 
1848, having furnished a friend with means to carry on the 
manufacture of rubber boots and shoes, — a business then 
in its infancy, — he relinquished all his other business, to 
organize the Hayward Rubber Company, of which he was 
the principal business manager, until he went into public 
life, and its treasurer as long as he lived. He was a 
stockholder also in a number of other manufacturing com- 
panies, to several of which he devoted special attention. 
Indeed it was a general business principal with him, not to 
invest his money where he could not have an oversight of it, 
and wherever he was a director, and especially if he was a 
trustee, he felt bound to look after it more carefully than if 
it was his own property that was concerned. His business 
ideas and habits were most exact and rigid. He could give 
away money cheerfully, and meet losses with equanimity, 
but failure to meet business engagements, or neglect of 
responsibilities that he had allowed to be put upon him, 
were not to be thought of. While conducting business 
on a large scale for thirty years, which included periods 
of serious financial disturbance in the country, like that 
of 1837, he constantly maintained his credit, paid his 
obligations and passed safely through the crises which 
wrecked or crippled so many men who were both able and 
industrious in their business. Such a business character 
and habits proved of great service when the war came on, 
and he was obliged to appeal to individuals and monied 



16 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

institutions for the means of raising and equipping troops 
for the field, and also in keeping the accounts of the State 
promptly and easily squared up with the General Govern- 
ment. His business ability and habits made him successful 
in each of the kinds of business in which he engaged, so 
that he acquired a handsome property for the times which 
preceded the war, when no such fortunes were rapidly 
accumulated as have been made since ; so that he had the 
means, as well as the disposition, to be public spirited and 
charitable, as well as give to his State the benefits of his 
personal credit and private fortune. He was so long in 
public life that, with his ideas of official duty, he was 
obliged to neglect his own business, and suffer losses, of 
which he never complained, only playfully remarking, as 
he did to a friend in Washington when he was senator : 
" If one comes here and makes any money while he is in 
Congress, he has been robbing the Government ; but if he 
has lost any, he is irregular in his habits, which last must 
be the case with me." 



CHAPTER I. 
The Country Before the War. 

How Slavery was at First Regarded — The Expectation that it Would 
at Last Cease to Exist — Agreements for Its Restriction Broken — 
The Missouri Compromise, Fugitive Slave Law and Kansas Ques- 
tion — Birth of the Republican Party. 

In every respect, save one, nothing seemed so unlikely 
as secession and civil war. The South and the North 
had essentially the same English origin. They were 
united by kinship, acquaintance and business. They 
had struggled together through the War of Independ- 
ence, and no two of our original colonies, who now 
found themselves most at variance on the subject of 
slavery, were more united and determined in behalf of 
freedom than Virginia and Massachusetts. They had 
been considerate of each other's convictions and wishes, 
and made all needful concessions in the organization 
of the General Government, and to secure the adop- 
tion of the Constitution. And since its adoption, we 
had enjoyed together for three-quarters of a century, 
as we boastfully, but not untruthfully, said, more free- 
dom and prosperity than ever fell to the lot of any 
other people on the globe. We were strong in our 
unity ; — so strong that the most powerful nations were 
reluctant to pick a quarrel with us, we were so sure 
to stand by one another if they did. And when we 
were so well aware that union was our safety, and 
disunion our destruction, as to have adopted it as a 
political maxim, "United we stand, divided we fall," 



18 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

it did seem as if nothing but insane madness, or judi- 
cial blindness, could have driven us into a civil war. 

And even in regard to the subject of slavery, the 
North and the South were for a long time virtually agreed. 
Slaves were introduced here by the British Govern- 
ment while we were colonies, and landed in Virginia 
before Massachusetts had any settlers. Virginia had 
petitioned George ill. to prohibit their importation, 
instead of which His Majesty gave peremptory orders 
to the Royal Governor, "not to assent to any law 
of the Colonial Legislature by which the importation 
of slaves should in any respect be prohibited or ob- 
structed." The institution had always been regarded 
by most people as something wrong, unchristian, in- 
human ; — by the ablest statesmen as an unwise policy, 
and a violation of the most fundamental of human 
rights ; while Christian people could hardly fail to see 
that it was not " doing to others as we would have 
others do to us," to enslave them. 

And though such a system had been imposed upon 
us, and transmitted by inheritance, it was regarded as 
a natural and necessary duty to alleviate and remove 
it. It was hoped and expected that under the influ- 
ence of advancing civilization, and increasing regard 
for human rights, and stronger Christian sentiment, 
slavery would be done away. Especially under our 
new Republic, where all were to be free and equal, 
it was to be assumed that such oppression could not 
long continue. With this idea, the framers of the 
Constitution refused to admit the word "slave" into 
that sacred instrument, but used the paraphrase " per- 
sons held to service," to describe slaves, which would 
be unmeaning when such a class ceased to exist. 
Such was the hope and endeavor not only of Northern 
statesmen like John Adams, but of Thomas Jefferson, 



WILLIAM A. BUCKLNGHAM. 19 

a Virginian, as well. And that State, be it forever 
remembered to her honor, in order to found such a 
Republic and secure the adoption of the Federal Con- 
stitution, not only gave the nation the Great North- 
west Territory, out of which those five prosperous States 
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin have 
been formed, but allowed it to be exclusively and forever 
dedicated to Freedom. For such was understood to 
be, and was undoubtedly meant to be, the force of 
that brief but significant clause in the Ordinance of 1787, 
for the government of that Territory: "There shall be 
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said 
Territory." The attempt to break down that barrier 
against slavery in the North, and the repeated and suc- 
cessful attempts to modify and finally to do away with 
the " Missouri Compromise " by the South, have been the 
cause of nearly all our sectional strife. 

In the meantime cotton had become one of the great 
staples of the world, and as few countries could raise 
it, and the blacks were best able to bear the hot climate 
that produced it, slave labor was at a premium. The 
value to which such labor attained seems incredible, 
yet we have it on good authority that the slaves of 
the South were worth in the market two thousand rail- 
lions of dollars. Happily the North had no such motive 
to justify and extend slavery, while, the South unfortu- 
nately fell under its influence, and urged on a course of 
measures which brought the nation to the verge of ruin, 
where it was only saved, under Providence, when the 
institution itself was swept away. 

These measures began with the admission of Missouri 
into the Union. The great Louisiana Territory, out of 
which the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, 
Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, North 
Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oregon 



20 WILLIAM A. HUCKINOHAM. 

and the Indian Territory, have already been organized, 
had been purchased of France in 1803. The way in 
which it came to us reads more like romance than 
history. Napoleon I. was in his greatest straits, and 
expecting that England would fit out a naval expedition — 
where he was the weakest — and take possession of this 
valuable province of France. He suddenly decided, in 
order to keep it out of the hands of his great enemy, 
to sell it to us, which was done for fifteen millions 
of dollars. The securing of it at this, or almost 
any price, when it was " held by the greatest military 
power of Europe, and coveted by the greatest naval 
power of the world," is a high tribute to the wisdom 
and statesmanship of Mr. Jefferson, who was then Pres- 
ident. Though stoutly opposed and bitterly denounced 
for it by the partisans of that day, his wise and com- 
prehensive statesmanship in this matter, not only gave 
us our broad and continental Republic, but also pre- 
vented our being hemmed in on three sides by British 
territory, and confronted on the other by England's 
formidable navy. Then again, no such motive as has 
influenced presidential administrations since that time 
could be fairly attributed to him who was, if we mis- 
take not, uniformly and consistently opposed to the per- 
petuation and extension of slavery. 

Louisiana was admitted into the Union in 1812, and with 
slavery, because it was south of the line which was under- 
stood to limit it on the north. There was opposition made 
to it, from the natural reluctance of the free States to have 
a system extended and invigorated, which it was hoped 
would die out eventually. But as it was only an extension 
of the system at the South where it already existed, it was 
acquiesced in. But when Missouri applied for admission, 
with her great territory — larger in area than all New Eng- 
land, and lying almost wholly north of the line of the Ohio 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 21 

river, which was to be the perpetual limit of slavery on 
that side of the Mississippi — the discussion of the whole sub- 
ject came up anew and agitated the entire country. That 
line was understood to be, and was certainly meant to be, 
the established division line between Freedom and Slavery. 
The North had confidence in the superiority of Freedom 
over Slavery to develop the population, wealth, intelligence 
and virtue of a community, and with time in their favor, 
they were patiently awaiting the result. And this measure 
was regarded as a deliberate attempt to break down the 
established barrier against all the evils of the worst institu- 
tion in the land. After three years of discussion and delay, 
Missouri was admitted as a slave state, but at the same 
time an ordinance was enacted that, from all the remainder 
of that territory lying west of the Mississippi, and north of 
the parallel of 36° 30*^, or the southern boundary of the new 
State, slavery should be forever excluded, as from all north 
of the same parallel on the other side of the river. And 
though this was to be a slave state, and lay north of the 
established line between Freedom and Slavery, it was ac- 
quiesced in for the sake of peace, and with the expectation 
that this would be the final settlement of the whole matter. 
Nobody proposed then to break up that whole arrangement, 
agreed upon so early and acted upon so often ; certainly no 
one could have dreamed that this whole plan would ever be 
repudiated, and pronounced unconstitutional, and madly 
swept away to extend slavery. This was the famous " Mis- 
souri Compromise," upon the basis of which the matter 
was adjusted in 1820. It was a hard compromise for the 
North. This is where disunion virtually commenced, and 
went on until it terminated in secession and the war. 

In the meantime the admission of Texas as a slave state 
into the Union (a revolted province of Mexico, where by 
the laws of Mexico slavery was prohibited), and the war 
with Mexico into which we were led to acquii-e more, slave 



^Sl WILLIAM A. BaCKINGHAM. 

territory, were still more disturbing to the North. These 
things showed that slavery was no longer to be any mere 
local institution, and subject only to State laws, but was to 
be fostered, extended, and perpetuated by the whole power 
of the general government. They proved how groundless 
were the philanthropic and seemingly reasonable expecta- 
tions of the earlier statesmen of the Republic, that an in- 
stitution thus restricted by the Constitution, the ordinances 
and the legislation of the first half-century of the govern- 
ment, would ever die out, if such a perversion of power was 
allowed for its support. No wonder the country was in- 
tensely agitated, or that members of both political parties, 
and some even from the slave states, should protest against 
it. Hence came the " Wilmot Proviso of 1846," a proviso 
moved by Mr. Wilmot of Pennsylvania, of the House 
of Representatives in Congress, to be attached to a bill 
appropriating two millions for the acquisition of Mexi- 
can territory, which declared it to be " an express and fun- 
damental condition to the acquisition of any territory from 
Mexico, that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall 
ever exist therein." Mr. Wilmot is said to have been an 
intense partisan of the Democratic school, a firm supporter 
of the administration in its general policy, and to have rep- 
resented a strong administration district, and still he did 
not hesitate to assert that this money was wanted to secure 
more slave territory, and that he was resolved then and 
there to make a stand in favor of " Free Soil." The bill 
was long and ably debated, and though the House was 
democratic, and the bill supported by the whole power of 
the administration, it could not be carried through that 
body without this proviso. This was the rallying point, 
and the rallying cry of the " Free Soil " movement that fol- 
lowed, which drew to its ranks so many from all parties, and 
ultimately won its victory in the election of Mr. Lincoln to 
the presidency. It shows the sober sense and sturdy priu- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 23 

ciple of the country, — which no sophistry could mislead nor 
party bonds enslave, nor even victories in war and acquisi- 
tions of territory satisfy, — that the Mexican war was never 
popular. The party and the administration which origi- 
nated it and carried it on successfully, were all the while 
losing the confidence and support of the country. The 
House elected in the ensuing autumn had a decided ma- 
jority against the administration. And this, as has been 
said, " was the first and only time in our political history 
when a party conducting a war victorious at every step, 
steadily lost ground in the country." In regard to our 
little respect for freedom and human rights, even as com- 
pared with Mexico, it is humiliating to read that : — 

"Every acre of the nine hundred thousand square miles of this 
4icquisition was free territory under the rule of Mexico, and the com- 
missioners of that government were extremely anxious that the 
United States should give a guaranty that its character in this respect 
should not he changed. They urged that to see slavery recognized 
upon soil once owned by Mexico would be as abhorrent to that gov- 
ernment as it would be to the United States to see the Spanish In- 
quisition established upon it. Mr. Nicholas P. Trist, our American 
commissioner, gave a reply which a free republic reads with increas- 
ing amazement. He declared that if the territory proposed to be 
ceded to us, were ten fold as valuable, and in addition to that was 
covered a foot thick with pure gold, on the single condition that 
slavery should be forever excluded, he would not entertain the offer 
for a moment, nor even think of sending it to his government. No 
American President would dare submit such a treaty to the Senate." 
Mr. Blaine's " Twenti/ Tears of Congress,''^ vol. I, p. 74. 

Another concession made to the South was the infamous 
Fugitive Slave Law, a law which denied to the fugitive any 
trial by jury, — aright granted to every citizen for a claim of 
more than twenty dollars, — left his personal liberty to be 
decided peremptorily by a United States Commissioner 
without appeal, provided no penalty for perjury, but did 
subject to heavy penalties those Avho sheltered a fugitive, or 
ventured to protect him from injustice and violence. " By 
this law, the body, the life, the very soul of a man, possibly 



24 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

a freeborn citizen, might be consigned to perpetual en- 
Blavement on the fallible judgment of a single official.'* 
Even the paltry bribe was held out to such official that if he 
remanded the alleged fugitive to slavery he should receive 
a fee of ten dollars, but if he adjudged him free, it should 
only be five. Then as if to make it as humiliating 
and insulting as possible to the Free States, whose citizens 
abhorred slavery, and had forever prohibited it within their 
own borders so far as it could be done by their own laws 
and judicial decisions, this law demanded of them acquies- 
cence, approval, assistance in this business. When Chris- 
tianity puts the question which admits of but one answer : 
" How much is a man better than a sheep?" when Juda- 
ism that had to deal with a. rude people, according to the 
imperfect ideas of that age, commanded " Thou shalt not 
deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped," and 
when every instinct of humanity and justice forbid our 
helping to enslave again one who has secured his own free- 
dom, what infatuation to expect that a nation of freemen 
were going to help enforce a law like that ! 

Then came the Dred Scott Decision of the Supreme Court^ 
which President Buchanan made such use of in his attempt 
to fasten slavery upon Kansas. Though the case to be 
decided was only a question of personal liberty, this court 
took occasion to go further and decide that slavery was not 
a local institution, and the creature of local laws, as had 
hitherto been supposed and acted upon in all our state and 
general legislation, but had a right to exist everywhere and 
in spite of local laws ; that the act of Congress prohibiting 
slavery in the territories north of BQ'^ SQ^ was unconstitu- 
tional, and the Missouri Compromise justly repealed it ; 
that slave property was as much entitled to protection in 
the national domain as any other property ; that Congress 
had no right to shut it out from the District of Columbia, 
or any of the territories of the United States ; and in short. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 25 

that tlic blacks, so far from being included in the *' all 
men " wiih certain " incalculable rights," referred to in the 
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, were re- 
garded at the time as " so far inferior that they had no 
rights which the white man was bound to respect." It was 
a bitter disa{)poIntment to the people of the North to find 
that after all their patient waiting in hopes of removing 
slavery by demonstrating the superiority of freedom, this 
institution was to be forever imposed upon them, and that 
it had been read into the Constitution by a sympathizing 
bench of judges, from which instrument it had been so con- 
scientiously excluded. They saw the very barriers which 
Virginia and Mr. Jefferson had helped to rear against 
slavery, torn down by Southern hands, and by men of Mr. 
Jefferson's political principles. They were indignant as 
well as disappointed, and became satisfied that more deter- 
mined steps must be taken for the protection of their own 
rights and the rigiits of others, if any liberty was to be left 
to anybody in our boasted Republic. As showing how this 
decision was regarded at the North, the New York Legisla- 
ture immediately enacted that neither color nor African 
descent should disqualify from citizenship ; that every slave 
brought by his master into the State should become free; 
that any attempt to retain such persons as slaves should be 
punished by from two to ten years imprisonment. It 
passed a resolution also declaring that the Supreme Court 
had lost the confidence and respect of the people. 

Then came the Kansas troubles. The territory of Kan- 
sas was open to settlement, and the slave state of Missouri 
on the east was determined that it should not become 
a free state. The first settlers of Lawrence, while still 
living in tents, were visited by a band of two hundred and 
fifty armed Missourians, and ordered to leave the territory. 
They were expecting this, and were themselves armed, and 
so they did not leave. The town, however, was afterwards 



26 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

twice beseiged and burned, while other towns were repeat- 
edly raided upon, and some of them partially destroyed. 
The free-state men were not allowed to vote, but the polls 
were either broken up by armed Missourians, or such men 
did the voting. The Territorial Legislature was disturbed, 
and on one pretence and another its officers and members 
were arrested and imprisoned. And on one occasion vvhen 
a delegate was to be elected to Congress, the Missourians 
poured over the borders and returned three thousand votes 
for their pro-slavery candidate when there were not half that 
number of voters in the whole territory. Successive Con- 
stitutions for the organization of a State were voted upon, 
and submitted to Congress, but they were either so favor- 
able to freedom, or the voting was so flagrantly fraudulent, 
that even pro-slavery Congress dared not impose them on 
the State without submitting them to the people again, 
where a Slave Constitution was sure to be rejected. The 
Lecompton Constitution, the worst of all, and the most 
fraudulent in its conception and pretended adoption was 
drawn up by a convention never authorized by the people, 
forbade free blacks to live in the State, allowed slavery, 
prohibited emancipation, conferred on slaveholders all the 
immunities of the worst slave codes, and declared these 
provisions of the Constitution inviolable, and that no change 
whatever should be made in it for a number of years. 
Then the question of slavery was not fairly submitted to 
the people, for they must vote for the Constitution with 
slavery and all these objectionable provisions, or else have 
no state organization. Nor was this all ; a bribe was offered 
of a large land grant made to depend upon the adoption 
of this particular Constitution. The people had already 
decided the question of slavery, by the most peaceful and 
undisputed election they ever held, and the free-state men, 
by a majority of two to one, had carried both houses of the 
Legislature in favor of freedom, yet this victory was 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 27 

snatched from them by fraudulent returns. From a single 
precinct of only eleven houses a return was sent in, and 
accepted, with the names of 1,624 persons, copied in alpha- 
betical order from the Cincinnati directory. One of the 
facetious and truthful representations of that election was 
the affidavit of Horace Greeley, denying with all the for- 
mality and solemnity of such an instrument, that he ever 
voted at Kickapoo, where his name was found recorded 
by the side of James Buchanan, William H. Seward and 
others. 

And yet in spite of this remonstrance on the part of the 
people, and such fraudulent returns of their voting, and so 
many objectionable provisions in the Constitution itself, it 
was transmitted to Congress, accompanied by a message 
from President Buchanan recommending the prompt admis- 
sion of the State. The Lecompton Bill passed the Senate, 
but it could not pass the House without modifications, and 
without having the Constitution submitted once more to the 
people, where it was rejected, land grant and all, by a 
majority of more than ten thousand. " The whole contriv- 
ance," as Mr. Blaine has characterized it," was fraudulent, 
wicked, and in retrospect incredible. It is not possible, 
without using language that would seem immoderate, to 
describe the enormity of the whole transaction. That Con- 
stitution no more represented the will or the wishes of the 
people of Kansas, than the people of Ohio or Vermont." 
But this action of Congress divided and broke down the 
Democratic party. It united the North in opposition to 
slavery as nothing else could have done. It organized the 
Republican party, and drew all the elements of opposition 
to the extension of slavery into that party. " This effort to 
make Kansas a slave state resulted in not only making it 
free, but the most tenacious Republican state in the Union." 
-It secured the election of Mr. Lincoln as the next President. 

Thus the final struggle of slavery for the control of the 



28 WILLIAM A. buckin(;ham. 

government and the extension of its system brought its own 
undoing. The free states at last stood together in opposi- 
tion to the extension of slavery in defiance of every compro- 
mise and arrangement to save the institution. They ap- 
pealed to the nation, resorted to the polls, elected a 
different President, and changed the administration of the 
government. This ought to have settled the matter, and 
secured a change of national policy, as it always had done. 

But these were differences as fundamental, as essen- 
tially opposed to each other, as light and darkness, truth 
and falsehood, right and wrong, where no adjustments and 
compromises can be permanent, since " nothing is settled 
until it is settled right." Here is where Mr. Seward's 
*' irrepressible conflict " was taking place, and what Mr. 
Lincoln styled " a house divided against itself," which could 
not stand. These were the convictions which such men 
were so much censured for uttering, as if they wanted to 
bring about the catastrophe they were only anxious to avert. 
But they knew what the result of such differences had been 
and foresaw what they must be until, as Mr. Lincoln ex- 
plained himself, " The nation must become all one thing, 
or all the other. Either the opponents of Slavery will 
arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public 
mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of 
ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward 
until it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well 
as new. North as well as South." 

It is easy to say that such a violent settlement of the 
matter might have been avoided, which is true if the slave 
states would have adhered honestly to their original con- 
tract with the free states, and let freedom fairly gain the 
ascendency as it was doing, and bless the slave states as it 
had their neighbors. Or it might have been accomplished 
if the slaves had all been purchased and emancipated by 
the General Government, as Mr. Lincoln attempted to buy 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 29 

off the border slave states from the Confederacy. What if 
it had cost thp four hundred millions at which they were 
valued, or even twice that sum ; how cheap compared with 
the mere money cost of the war. But this was not to be, 
and without doubt the means resorted to were the only ones 
that could effectually prevent all new disputes and com- 
promises, and after punishing us sufficiently for our conniv- 
ance with such a system of oppression and degradation, 
assuredly prevent all desire from any quarter to have the 
system back again. Certain it is that it brought into 
striking and humiliating contrast our claim to be a free 
and independent Republic, where all are entitled to " life, 
liberty and pursuit of happiness," as compared with an 
actual enslavement of so many millions capable like our- 
selves of intellectual and moral ennoblement, but scarcely 
allowed any one of these " inalienable rights." Besides 
such " times of ignorance as God winked at," when it was 
deemed right to sell into slavery, and even put to death 
every captive taken in war, and when only two centuries 
before Christian England did not scruple to carry on the 
African Slave Trade : — these times had passed away, and 
God was " commanding all men everywhere to repent." 
And in the light of a purer Christianity, and a higher civi- 
lization, and a greater regard for human rights, our con- 
sciences were more sensitive to such a crime, and we could 
not fail to hear ringing in our ears as the voice of God — 
" Let my people go." The question at issue had ceased to 
be merely a political one; it was fearfully moral, as we were 
compelled to feel when we were all so scourged for our con- 
nection with it. This religious conviction and moral senti- 
ment were the reliance of the free states when the crisis 
came, and this moral sentiment buoyed us up when the 
struggle was severest and the times darkest. It was such 
principles that, overlooking the interests of trade, the con- 
sideration of friendship, party connections, and all else as 



30 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

compared with the claims of duty, justice, humanity, Chris- 
tianity, neither fainted nor faultered till the work was- 
accomplished. 

Such was the state of things, and such the appeal made 
to the country by the end of the first year of President 
Buchanan's administration ; so that the next three years — 
1858-59-60 — were the period of deepest interest, greatest 
excitement, most earnest discussion, and determined energy 
in public affairs, that the country ever witnessed. These 
were the years which immediately preceded Mr. Lincoln's 
election, and which were to be followed so soon by the- 
breaking out of our Civil War. 



CHAPTER II. 
Mr. Buckingham's Election in 1858. 

Financial and Social Troubles of the Time — Events of the Next Two 
Years, Leading to the Election of Mr. Lincoln and the Outbreak 
of the War — Governor Buckingham's Messages During the Period 
and His Recognition of the Real Situation. 

In the spring of 1858, the political outlook of the coun- 
try was most threatening and its financial affairs seemed 
in the worst possible condition. The currency was in a 
very bad state. Instead of our present banking system, 
for which we are indebted to President Lincoln's admin- 
istration, and particularly to Mr. ^ Chase, his Secretary 
of the Treasury, every State had its own system of 
banking. The bills of one State might not pass current 
elsewhere, or if they did it might be at a discount, in- 
stead of being as they now are current and of their face 
value everywhere. Then there had been a suspension 
of specie payment throughout the country. There was 
great business embarrassment everywhere, and the fail- 
ure of the Life & Trust Company of New York city, 
the largest institution of the kind in the country, caused 
a panic which brought on the worst financial crisis we 
have ever passed through, unless it was the one in 1837. 
A convention of banking and business men had been 
called in Connecticut, of which Mr. Buckingham was 
a member, where it is said his knowledge of such sub- 
jects so favorably impressed that body, as to make his 
nomination most acceptable to the business interests of 
the State. That it might well have done so, is evident 
from the attention he gave to those matters when he 



32 WILLIAM A. KLiCKlNGHAM. 

became Governor. His first messag:e to the Legislature de- 
voted a considerable space to considerations and recommen- 
dations upon the subject of banking and the currency, though 
the improvements soon made in the national banking sys- 
tem must have removed the necessity for State action upon 
most of them. The threatening aspect of public affairs also 
called for a wise and reliable man at the head of the State, 
even if he was not an experienced statesman, and certainly 
demanded something more than any mere politician, how- 
ever able. Then one was needed who, in the breaking up 
and readjustment of parties, should claim the respect and 
confidence of all parties, and around whom, in case the 
determination to nationalize slavery should continue and 
lead to civil war, all patriots and lovers of liberty could 
rally, as they so nobly did. The Springfield Republican^ 
then as now an independent and able paper, and watching 
from an adjoining State the course of things in Connecticut, 
thus puts the matter at the opening of the year, and com- 
mends the nomination made for governor : — 

"Such a money panic was never witnessed before, and has not 
stopped in this country, but has swept over Europe uprostino^ all our 
theories and affecting all monetary systems alike, coming and going 
like a scourge sent for a purpose from heaven. There is no comfort in 
the contemplation of the serious changes of the last year, save in the 
belief of an overwhelming providence, and faith in the world's progress. 

"Mr. William A. Buckingham, who is nominated for governor by 
the Republicans, is a leading, liberal citizen, and wealthy manufac- 
turer of Norwich. He has intelligence, integrity, and practical ability, 
which is creditable to the party to have recognized in his nomination, 
and his election will be an honor to the State. The proportion of sucli 
men in our politics is only too small. Mr. Buckingham was a Whig, 
nnd passed from that organization, upon its death, to the Republicans 
without turning aside from the straight path to dally with Amerioau- 
ism." (January 15, 1858.) 

He was elected Governor by a fair majority where parties 
were so evenly divided. 11 is majority at this first election 
was 2,449, and his plurality 2,753, a larger plurality and 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 33 

majority than had been concentrated upon one candidate 
in opposition to the Democratic party since 1849. The 
Legislature also by this election became largely Republican 
in both branches. His inauguration took place at New- 
Haven. The State then had two capitals, one at New 
Haven and the other at Hartford, growing out of the fact 
that the State was made up of the two original colonies of 
New Haven and Connecticut. The election of State ofificers 
and members of the Legislature took place in April, and 
the Governor was inaugurated the first Wednesday in May. 
Occurring at this pleasant season of the year, the occasion 
became a State holiday, and the capitals vied with each 
other in making the pageant beautiful and imposing. Each 
city had its company of the Governor's Horse Guard and 
Foot Guard, dating back in their organization to colonial 
times, the First (Hartford) Company of the Foot Guards 
wearing the English Grenadier uniform of that period. 
More or less volunteer companies and State troops took 
part in the parade, and during the war, when regiments- 
were being organized and sent into the field, and when 
some of them were returning, these were used to increase the 
display, so that no native of the State, who ever witnessed 
one of those parades, can fail to remember it pleasantly 
and with a thrill of patriotism. The Governor on horse- 
back, in his citizen's suit of black, and distinguished by this 
and the simple rosette upon his hat, amid his well-mounted 
and brilliant military staff ; the General also of the State 
troops with his own brilliant staff ; the civil authorities and 
guests of the occasion in carriages ; the long procession in 
motion with glittering arms and nodding plumes and in- 
spiring music ; the streets lined with people ; the dooryards,. 
steps, windows and every available place for observation, flut- 
tering with flags and handkerchiefs, and the procession 
cheering as it passed, and all amid ringing bells and booming 
cannon ; was a scene never to be forgotten by any Connec- 



34 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

ticut born man or woman. However far he might move 
away and settle, the mere mention of " Election Day " in 
Connecticut, would light up his face and warm his heart 
toward the State that bore him, and encourage him to help 
build up a " New Connecticut" elsewhere, whether on the 
shores of Lake Erie, or still further west. For with years 
and reflection, that " Election Day " would mean more than 
a mere gala day. It would represent the result of a popu- 
lar election of the highest officers and legislators of the 
State, and the ready acquiescence of both parties and all 
parties in it. It would represent the military power as sub ■ 
ordinate to the civil, and in the person of that citizen 
Governor, see soldiery recognizing in him their command- 
er-in-chief, and never dreaming of aught but obedience. 
And it would represent also a state of society, and of pub- 
lic sentiment, where the people govern themselves, and 
look after all the great interests of the community, as well 
as stand ready to put down insurrection or sedition, and 
defend the general government in time of foreign or 
civil war. 

After the parade was over, and the Legislature was 
organized, the two bodies met in convention to receive the 
Governor's Message. This message we give in part, as 
showing what he regarded as the great interests of the 
State, and also his attitude in regard to the great question 
which was then agitating the country, and was so soon to 
involve us in all the horrors of civil war. 

Mil. President: Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the General 

Assembly: — 

The Constitution of our State and tlie suffrages of our fellow 
citizens, have made it my duty to inform you of "the state of our 
Government, and to recommend to your consideration such measures 
as I shall deem expedient." This duty I shall now attempt to per- 
form with proper brevity. 

Legislation should be such as will tend to check crime; bring to 
speedy justice the violators of law; preserve the purity of the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 35 

ballot-box; place in a desirable position public institutions; lead 
citizens to feel a stronger attachment to the National Union; give 
the greatest liberty under the restraints of law; and lead to the 
enactments of such statutes only as are based upon the Divine Law. 
Such legislation for our State will lead us to respect ourselves, 
entitle us to the esteem of the good, and give us an influence such as 
a people under our institutions and laws ought to exert. 

After showing the condition of " public finances," recom- 
mending that they be controlled by the principles of " rigid 
economy, without parsimony," he treats of the common 
schools a;id the school fund ; the State Normal school and 
the State Reform school ; the condition and maintenance 
of the militia system ; the provision that should be made 
for the idiotic, the insane, the blind, and the deaf and dumb. 
He next makes recommendations in regard to joint stock 
companies and railroad companies ; and then, as has been 
said, considers quite at length the condition of the banks 
and their currency, and proposes a number of specific enact- 
ments which he deems necessary for the safety of these 
institutions and the security of the public. Then coming 
to national affairs, and the critical position in which the 
country stands, he takes his own stand, and where he would 
rally the State around him, as follows : — 

The question of slavery extension still agitates the mind and dis- 
turbs the peace of the nation, threatens the rights of the States and 
the best interests of the Union. This agitation has been renewed 
with every effort to extend the institution into the territories, or to 
shield it there under the constitution of our confederacy. 

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the effort to bring 
the people of Kansas under the government of a constitution which 
they have never approved, I regard as the immediate cause of the 
present agitation. 

The chief executive oflicer of our national government has declared 
that '• slavery existed in Kansas at the time of the passage of the 
Kansas- Nebraska Act, under the Constitution of the United States, 
and that Kansas is at this moment as much a slave state as Georgia 
or South Carolina. Take these declarations in connection with the 
use which the administration has made of the army of the United 



36 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

States; with the disregard of the pledges of popular sovereignty, and 
to submit the question of slavery to the decision of the people of 
Kansas without any restriction or qualification, and in connection 
with the effoi-ts which the administration has made to have that ter- 
ritory admitted into the Union as a State under the Lecompton Con- 
stitution, and we are not surprised that the minds of our citizens are 
filled with apprehension for the future i^eace and welfai-e of the 
nation. If the course which the administi^ation has pursued on these 
subjects shall be regarded as a precedent for the future, it may cause 
questions to arise between the States and the national government, 
which will still more seriously disturb our tranquillity; questions 
having reference to the rights of the States and the powers of the 
government. 

We look in vain to find a clause in the Constitution recognizing 
slavery in the territories. It exists in the States because it is the 
creature of local laws. If we go back to the formation of the general 
government, we find that the convention that framed the Constitution, 
and Congress, were in session at the same time. Questions which 
related to slavery perplexed and retarded the action of both bodies. 
But they acted in concert, and it was well understood that the pro- 
vision in the Constitution for delivering up on claim persons held to 
service in one State and escaping into another, was made for the pur- 
pose of satisfying those States which were not then in favor of taking 
measures to abolish slavery, and that in consideration of such pro- 
visions they conceded to the government the right to prohibit slavery 
in the common territories. At the very time the ordinance of 1787 m as 
adopted by Congress, prohibiting involuntary servitude except for 
crime, in all the territories which belonged to the general govern- 
ment. This was regarded by all as a solemn comi^act which was to 
remain forever inviolable. For sixty years after that time the legisla- 
tion of Congress recognized the existence of full constitutional powers 
to prohibit this institution in the territories. The doctrine that 
power to prohibit slavery carries with it the power to establish it, is 
of recent date, and in conflict with the views of those who partic 
ipated in the formation of the Federal government. 

The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the effort made to 
establish slavery north of that line, in a territory which had been 
devoted to freedom, has opened the question of extending freedom 
south of that line, in a territory which had been devoted to slavery. 
The struggle now is to determine whether the Constitution which 
was ordained to establish liberty shall be perverted to establish 
slavery. 

The agitation which this subject has caused is deeply to be regretted ; 
but I do not believe it will cease until we shall " allow the States to 
regulate their own domestic institutions in their own way," cease to 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 37 

use our federal powers to establish and extend the system of human 
bondage ; return to and be governed by the principles upon which the 
government was founded. Then, and not till then, will the American 
people cease to agitate this subject, and i^eace be restored to our 
whole country. 

I have endeavored to present these subjects without party prejudice. 
Parties rise and fall, and are forgotten, but principles involving our 
business and our civil liberty, rest not upon the changing foundation 
of political party. They are as enduring as eternal right. If the 
government of our State shall be administered upon these principles, 
it will secure the temporal prosperity of our people and lead them to 
appreciate more highly our common Chi'istianity as the medium of 
our blessings and the foundation of our hopes. 

WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

New Haven, May 5, 1858. 



Governor Buckingham was re-elected in 1859. The ad- 
ministration of his office had made the people better 
acquainted with him, and seems to have increased their 
respect and confidence in him, so that when the State con- 
vention came together in January, he was readily renomi- 
nated and in April elected. As showing the state of polit- 
ical parties, and where the strength of the Governor lay, the 
Springfield Republican says of the last State election : — 

" The cities and large' towns of Connecticut are generally against 
the Republicans, except Norwich and New London. Hartford 
and New Haven are both Democratic, so are Middletown and Water- 
bury. New London and Windham counties constitute the Republican 
strongholds, and can give one thousand Republican majority. Litch- 
field county, eminently the agricultural region, with hills and iron 
ore, and the birthplace of the Beechers, comes next with five hundred 
Republican majority. The nominal Republican supremacy in the 
government is not so great as heretofore, but it never was held so 
firmly, with greater moral and intellectual strength than now. The 
severity and closeness of the struggle in the recent election, and the 
very intestine troubles which accompanied it, have consolidated the 
party, and confirmed its power beyond all ordinary dispute liere- 
after. Mischievous elements, both of individuals and of factions, 
have been crushed out, and with new and abler representative men, 
and broader and more popular principles, it has placed itself on a 
vantage ground that it never before occupied. 



38 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The Governor's message this year shows his attitude 
and that of the State toward the great issue then before 
the country : — 

The President, in his late message to Congress, urges the purchase 
or, if necessary, the conquest of Cuba with a zeal worthy of an object 
as high and as noble as the abolition of the slave trade, and the civili- 
zation and Christianization of benighted Africa. He argues that the 
geographical position of that island is such, that so long as it remains 
in possession of a foreign power, our commerce will be exposed to per- 
petual injury and annoyance in time of peace, and to destruction in 
war; and he asks that an appropriation of money be made, and power 
placed in his hands to negotiate for its purchase. 

The President also asks for authority to employ, at his discretion, 
the land and naval forces of tlie United States for the protection of 
American citizens in traveling through foreign countries, and sustains 
his application by examples drawn from the executive departments 
of France and other imperial governments possessing the war-making 
power. Kindred in character to the foregoing, is the recommenda- 
tion of the President that the government assume a protectorate and 
establish military posts within the limits of a weak but independent 
nation. The.se views carried out would place our army and navy 
under the orders of the President, in all parts of the world; and 
yielding to others the same rights we claim for ourselves, would open 
our country to tlie armies of every other nation. 

The conclusion which the mind would naturally and rapidly reach 
from this view of the subject is, whenever we judge any country or 
colony, either now or prospectively, endangers our commerce, we may 
negotiate for its purchase, and if unsuccessful, be justified in taking 
possession by force, in accordance with the despotic maxim that 
" might makes right." 

This struggle for the concentration of power in the President, or 
the central power, is seriously agitating the minds of the American 
people. They believe that it is to have, and is intended to have, a 
controlling influence in the all-absorbing question of slavery. On the 
one hand they are advocating and on the other opposing it, witli a 
zeal and energy which show how deep is the interest they feel in the 
final issue. 

The citizens of Connecticut regard slavery as a system that para- 
lyzes industry, dries up the sources of prosperity, obstructs the 
wheels of progress in the cause of education, civilization and Chris- 
tianity, and conflicts irreconcilably with the principles of human 
liberty. They regard it as the creature of local laws, having u(y 
rightful existence beyond State boundaries; and while they will 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. <i\f 

counteract no interference with it, as it exists within the limits of 
our sister States, they will never acquiesce in its extension by the 
general government, without entering their solemn protest against 
the exercise of powers so maintained by the Constitution, and so 
hazardous to the tranquility of the Union. 

Here is clearly and temperately stated the great question 
at issue between the free States and the slave States, and 
the position assumed by one of the former, just as the 
country was about to be plunged into all the perplexities of 
disunion, and the horrors of a fearful war. Whatever dif- 
ferences of opinion there were about the right position then 
there are none now. And all honor to the State that could 
so early comprehend the real issues of that controversy, and 
so nobly stood by the principles of freedom and righteous- 
ness to the end ! 

These last two years of 1858 and 1859 had been years 
of intense interest and earnest discussion throughout the 
country. Ever since the repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
in 1854, and the Dred-Scott Decision which justified it in 
1857, and the attempt of President Buchanan's administra- 
tion, as soon as he was inaugurated, to bring Kansas into 
the Union under the Lecompton Constitution, the subject 
of slavery had become the great question at issue, and there 
could have been none other of such fundamental and per- 
manent importance. So when early in the year 1858, the 
President sent in his message to Congress, treating the 
population of Kansas (for voting against slavery) as in 
rebellion against lawful authority, and recognizing the 
invaders from Missouri as rightfully entitled to impose a 
slcCve-holding constitution upon a neighboring territory ; 
when he declared that by the Dred-Scott Decision, " slavery 
exists in Kansas by virtue of the Constitution of the United 
States, and it is at this moment as much a slave State as 
Georgia or South Carolina ;" and when he and his admin- 
istration undertook to justify such a stupendous fraud, and 



40 VVJLLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

reverse the whole historic policy of the government upon 
this subject and rob the Constitution of its two noblest 
characteristics, equal rights and self-government ; was it 
any wonder that the political canvass began early, and 
■was carried on vigorously with reference to the next presi- 
dential election, or that it did not cease until the matter 
was settled, so far as it could be settled by the popular vote 
of the nation ? To be sure the South threatened secession 
and armed rebellion if they were not allowed to carry out 
their pro-slavery policy. But few believed that they would 
ever resort to such violent measures, when the question at 
issue was once settled by a national election, as every other 
great issue had been peacefully settled in this way, and so 
both sections of the country and all parties set about 
earnestly and anxiously preparing for the coming presi- 
dential election. This was to be the national election of 
1860, when Mr. Lincoln came into office and such important 
results followed. 

These two preceding years were not only a period of 
intense excitement and earnest debate everywhere, but of 
changes of position on the part of public men, the breaking 
up and readjustment of parties, and threats of unheard-of 
measures to be resorted to if one party was defeated at the 
polls. The Whig party had come to be regarded as too 
yielding to the South in supporting all the compromise 
measures of the last decade, and especially in acquiescing 
in the Fugitive Slave Law, and this party was broken up to 
be combined with the Free Soil, American, and all anti- 
slavery elements, into the Republican party. The Demo- 
cratic party, then in power, had no sooner elected Mr. 
Buchanan by the aid of the South, than they found that 
they could not carry out the measures which the South 
demanded of them. The North would not acquiesce in the 
repeal of the Missouri Compromise, nor accept the Dred- 
Scott Decision, nor carry out the Fugitive Slave Law, 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 41 

nor allow that slavery might be carried into the free 
States, or imposed upon the territories against the wishes 
of the inhabitants. This the President soon found to his 
■cost, for he could not control Congress, though it was 
Democratic in both branches. It would not impose the 
Lecompton Constitution upon Kansas without submitting 
it to the people ; neither would it favor his Cuban scheme 
of annexation, or allow him to make war upon the Central 
American States, or put the control of the army into his 
hands, or make appropriations for any such purpose. 
Indeed, the President had scarcely finished half his term of 
office before his administration had completely broken 
down. The House of Representatives had become Repub- 
lican. Senator Douglas, the ablest man of his party, and 
the most prominent Democratic candidate for the next 
presidency, was opposing his policy. General Cass, his 
Secretary of State, who acquiesced at first in the measures 
he proposed, finally resigned his place in the cabinet. 
Attorney General Black, who sanctioned, if he did not 
draw up some of the President's most objectionable mes- 
sages, found at last that he must retire from the cabinet. 
Then came the State elections which were to sanction or 
condemn Mr. Buchanan's pro-slavery policy, and of the 
great States which had helped to elect him, New York and 
Pennsylvania gave their majorities against him, until every 
Northern State, save one, had withdrawn from him its sup- 
port. And when at last this "Old Public Functionary," as 
he styles himself in his final message, finds that in trying 
to obey that Dred-Scott Decision and serve the party that 
elected him, he has broken up his party and encountered 
.the reprobation of all lovers of freedom, whether at the 
North or in the South, and discovers that he has only been 
the tool of the South in cutting away the very foundations 
of the Union, which he really desired to preserve, and was 
making so many concessions to preserve, he becomes one 



42 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

of the most pathetic figures in political history. Had he 
been a wiser and stronger man he might still have retrieved 
his reputation. He might even at that late hour have 
made such a change in policy as, firml}' carried out, would 
have placed him in the list of great Presidents. But he 
was not of such material. 

Thus the year 1859 closed, to be followed by the ever- 
memorable presidential canvass of 1860. 



CHAPTER HI. 

Thp: Nomination of Mr. Lincoln. 

The Election in Connecticut in the Spring of 1860 — Its Importance to 
the Nation — The Frauds by which Democratic Politicians Sought 
to Carry the State — Governor Buckingham's Re-election — Lin- 
coln's Campaign— His Acquaintance with Governor Buckingham 
and Its Effect — The Presidential Election of 1860. 

The year 1859 closed with important political changes, 
with a startling and most disturbing occurrence in Virginia, 
and with such bitter discussion and threats of secession in 
Congress as might well have alarmed all sober-minded 
people at the South, as well as at the North. 

The administration had lost its control of the country. 
The few State elections that took place in the spring of 
1859, as in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, 
were in favor of the Republican candidates, though New 
Hampshire had always been a reliably Democratic State, 
and Connecticut was just as likely to vote the one way as the 
other. But when the other State elections came, which were 
generally in the autumn, Massachusetts was Republican by 
23,000 plurality, and the State of New York by 25,000, 
and Pennsylvania, for the first time, by over 26,000. It 
began to look as if the coming presidential election might 
be carried by the Republicans, and the administration of the 
general government in regard to the subject of slavery 
be completely revolutionized. Thus the Norwich Bulletin 
says in the autumn of 1859: "The first session of the next 
Congress, which will commence on the first Monday of 
December, will make the next President of the United 
States, and will doubtless unmake several presidential 



44 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

aspirants. Mr. Buchanan was barely elected in 1856, and 
since his election his administration has been constantly 
weakening the party that elected him. The results of the 
congressional elections in the several States during the 
past year, point unmistakably to a Republican administra- 
tion in 1860, and were the presidential election to come off 
next November, instead of a year hence, no Democratic 
candidate could carry a single Northern State." And the 
Springfield Republican says : " When the Whig and Demo- 
cratic parties divided the country, at occasional intervals 
a Democratic State was carrried by the Whigs on the 
strength of some local question, or by the force of some 
great excitement. But the succeeding election was pretty 
sure to restore to the Democrats their ascendency. The 
Republican party, starting out with a fixed idea and a con- 
sistent national policy, has relied upon the progress of 
individual conviction, and has made steady gains of town 
after town, county after county, State after State, until its 
ascendency is established in nearly all the free States. Thus 
it has conquered one Democratic State after another, and 
what it takes it holds. New Hampshire and Maine are now 
as fixedly Republican as they onc.e were Democratic." 

Such was the political aspect of the times when Congress 
came together at the close of the year 1859. The adminis- 
tration had lost control of the House of Representatives, 
many of whom had just been elected, though the Senate was 
still Democratic, since its members were elected for a longer 
term of service. The House could not elect a speaker, and 
it was two months before they had succeeded and were 
organized. The President had waited three weeks for this 
before sending in his message, though the country was 
impatient to learn what he was to recommend in that critical 
state of affairs. When it was published, he was found to 
have in no respect modified his pro-slavery policy, but to be 
more completely under the control of the Southern members 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 45 

of his cabinet than ever. He still asked that more of the 
war-making power which belongs to Congress, and partic- 
ularly the Senate, be put into his hands, to be used with 
reference to Mexico and the Spanish American States. He 
recommended the organization of a military force on pur- 
pose to interfere with Mexican politics, and place the Juarez 
party in power, and seize such portions of territory as we 
may consider proper indemnity for our old claims, and as 
furnishing security for the future. 

Then began in Congress those long and bitter and trea- 
sonable debates, which were enough to inflame any people 
into madness, especially after all that had gone before. 
John Brown's raid and execution had just taken place, 
and one of the first things done in the House, when Con- 
gress came together, was to raise a committee of inquiry 
into that matter, with the expectation of implicating in it 
some of the Republican leaders, who seemed to have been 
just as much surprised by it as others. Then Helper's 
book, "The Impending Crisis," a vigorous arraignment of 
the system of slavery, especially in its social and economic 
bearing, which had been recommended by some of our 
public men and considerably circulated in some of the 
border slave States, was used with terrible earnestness to 
blast the prospects of certain politicians at the North. In 
the Senate, too, Jefferson Davis had introduced the ulti- 
matum of the South : The rebuke of all slavery agitators, 
the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law and repeal of 
the personal liberty laws, and the recognition of property 
in slaves as an indefeasible right of territorial settlers, and 
entitled to congressional protection ; which was made the 
text of all manner of provoking debate and treasonable 
talk. It seems incredible now, that men in other respects 
dignified and honorable ; honorable and dignified enough 
to represent the States in the Congress of the nation, and 
to be entrusted with the declaration of war and peace, and 



46 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

the maintenance of the Union, should liave so trifled with 
such interests and courted ruin. Hear such language as 
this from Mr. Singleton of Mississippi, in the House: "We 
will have expansion of slavery in the Union, or outside of 
it if we must. I say the sooner we get out of the Union 
the better, for the longer we stay in it the worse for us. 
The South have made up their minds to sustain slavery. 
We don't intend to be prescribed by present limits, and 
it will not be in the power of the North to coerce the 
3,000,000 of freemen at the South with arms in their hands, 
and prevent their going into the surrounding territories. 
Gentlemen must remember that gallant son of the South, 
Jefferson Davis, led our forces in Mexico and that, thank 
God, he still lives, perhaps to lead a Southern army." And 
Mr. Davis himself, in the Senate, whatever gallantry he 
may have shown in the field, had no more courtesy nor dis- 
cretion than to use such language as this toward a fellow 
senator : " To say that the labor of the two sections is con- 
flicting and irreconcilable, is a declaration of war, and 
hence the South is alarmed and must look to her defence. 
Seward is a traitor, and deserves the gallows. Virginia has 
hung John Brown, and if they get hold of Seward they will 
hang him." 

Another presidential election was at hand. Mr. Buchanan 
had no prospect of a re-election. The questions at issue 
were well understood. The discussions over the Fugitive 
Slave Law, the Dred-Scott Decision, and the admission of 
Kansas as a slave State, had enlightened the nation. It was 
plain that the South would never be satisfied with anything 
short of the establishment of slavery everywhere and its 
protection and encouragement by the general government. 
It was evident, also, that if this was not done, some of the 
Southern States were preparing to secede from the Union, 
and no concessions or compromises could prevent it. The 
party conventions to nominate candidates for the presidency 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 4T 

were about to be held, the Democratic convention at 
Charleston, S. C, and when divided, a second one at Balti- 
more, Md. ; and still later the Republican convention which 
nominated Mr. Lincoln at Chicago, 111. In such a state of 
general interest and intense anxiety throughout the country, 
the election of a single State, though no larger than Con- 
necticut, attracted unusual attention. Then this State, as 
has been said, had been just about as likely to be Demo- 
cratic as Republican, and her election would be a good index 
of the drift of political opinion at the North. Besides, this 
was one of the few States whose election came in the spring, 
while the others did not take place until the autumn. 

Under such circumstances the political canvass of 1860 
became the most vigorous the State ever knew. The Repub- 
lican convention which renominated Governor Bucking- 
ham was held at Hartford in January. The Democratic 
convention which nominated Thomas H. Seymour was also 
held at Hartford in February. Mr. Seymour was an agree- 
able and popular citizen of Hartford, an upright and honor- 
able man, much esteemed by his neighbors and friends. He 
was an officer in the New England regiment of volunteers 
in the Mexican war, and in command of it took a distin- 
guished part in the capture of Mexico. He was four times 
elected governor of the State. He was for six years our 
Minister to Russia, appointed by President Pierce. When 
he returned, as the secession movement was coming on, 
"his sympathies were largely with the South, and he con- 
tinued his opposition to the war until its close, as the leader 
of the Connecticut peace Democrats." And as four years 
before, Mr. Buchanan had just returned from his ministry 
at the Court of St. James, and had been found to be a more 
desirable candidate for the presidency, because he had not 
been at home to take any public position upon the questions 
raised during his absence, so Mr. Seymour was deemed in 
the present critical state of politics, a peculiarly desirable 



48 WILLIAM A. I5UCKINGHAM. 

candidate for the chief magistracy of Connecticut, if not to 
succeed Mr. Buchanan as President. Then began the 
struggle for this seemingly small prize. With a population 
of less than half a million, how little her vote would weigh 
numerically against such States as New York, or Penn- 
sylvania, or some of the larger Western States ! Little to 
be sure, except as indicative of the purpose of the North 
to consent neither to the extension of slavery nor to 
secession from the Union, and to be an example to the 
other States. But small as the prize might seem, it was 
deemed valuable enough for other States not only to watch 
the result, but also to take a pretty vigorous hand in the 
game. 

As showing that this was not an overestimate of the 
importance of that coming election, we refer to an article 
that appeared in the Springfield Republican (March 26th), 
a few days before, and is characteristic of Mr. Bowles, its 
sagacious editor : — 

"The Connecticut election next Monday is only a presidential 
election in miniature. Such a fierce struggle was never known there 
before. The Democrats of the country feel that upon their success in 
Connecticut depends their chance of making a successful contest for 
the presidency. If they cannot make a break anywhere in the reaf- 
firmed front of Republican free States before the great campaign 
opens, they will start under an oppressive sense of weakness and 
apprehension of defeat, scattering doubt and dismay through all their 
ranks. Connecticut is chosen as the weakest point for a demonstration 
that will restore their prestige of power and victory. The little com- 
monwealth is therefore beleaguered and beset in all its borders with 
Democratic workers, Democratic orators, and Democratic money. 
Their purpose, as well as their hope, was expressed by Fernando 
Wood, who has entered actively into the canvass, when he said that 
if money could buy Connecticut he would purchase the whole of it. 
Not only here as well as everywhere, have the ofifice-holders been 
made to contribute to the fund wherewith the voice of Connecticut is 
to be purchased and perverted, but the pro-slavery merchants of New 
York have come down with $100 and $500 subscriptions. No less than 
$5,000 has been raised in Massachusetts, and was taken to Connecticut 
last week for the purchase of votes for the Democratic ticket. Never 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 49 

was weakness more tempted, never strength more tried. The Repub- 
licans are meeting the onslaught Avith courage, firmness and work. 
They probably have not got so much money, but they have the real 
majority of the votes, and the real strength of the argument. They 
are fighting the great fight of 1860, and apparently fighting it well. 
It is like the two commanders of hostile armies stepping outto decide 
the war in a single combat. The whole country looks on with in- 
terest and anxiety. The little State rocks with the excitement of the 
contest, and for a week the thought and action of the people will be 
centered in the election. Bribery, corruption, and fraud will do their 
worst to prevent ballots, which properly cast and counted would 
show not less than 3,000 Republican majority, but we have faith that 
these desperate instruments cannot do their appointed work." 

Mr. Lincoln, who was hardly thought of then as a can- 
didate for the presidency, was introduced into Connecticut 
and made half a dozen campaign speeches during the 
month that preceded their State election. He was the guest 
of Governor Buckingham, by whom he was introduced to his 
audiences, and here began that personal acquaintance which 
afterwards secured to the Governor so much of the Presi- 
dent's confidence and allowed the Governor to make his 
suggestions, and gain for them such consideration. Nor 
was the Democratic party without its representatives and 
able speakers in that State campaign. Such men as Caleb 
Gushing of Massachusetts, Mr. Prescott of Missouri, and 
Fernando Wood of New York, represented their own party 
from abroad, while the Republicans had General Wilson, 
Thomas Corwin, and Cassius M. Clay, to say nothing of the 
domestic speakers on both sides, some of whom visited 
every town and village, not to speak of the large gather- 
ings at the great centers, until every part of the State was 
reached, and every night occupied with able discussions of 
the great issues of the canvass. Nor were the ordinary 
modes of political organization, or means of creating pop- 
ular enthusiasm during an election, neglected. At Hart- 
ford each party had its own "wigwam" or "camp" of 
rough timber and boards, which would hold three thousand 



60 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

people. Each also had its own organization of " clubs " 
throughout the State; "the Seymour clubs," and the 
"Wide Awakes.'' This last was only started as a torch- 
light company, made up of young men who volunteered ta 
do escort duty, and with their glazed caps and capes that 
showed well under torchlight, they became a striking- 
feature in all the gatherings. We remember to have wit- 
nessed the display the night the two camps were dedicated 
at Hartford, where we heard all the above speakers discuss 
the questions of the hour, and we cannot recall their fervid 
eloquence or great arguments, so distinctly or with such 
thrilling recollections as those two enthusiastic processions 
winding up over and around the park, one of which carried 
by actual count 1,960 torches. Some of the young captains 
of these Wide Awakes, like Colonel Bissell, afterwards 
made good commanders in the army. He in particular 
possessed such power of command and ability to inspire 
enthusiasm, that it was said of him that when he was 
unable to attend a political gathering with his Wide 
Awakes, it was deemed sufficient if he only sent along his 
"white hat." 

It was under such circumstances, and in such a state of 
public sentiment that the Connecticut State election took 
place April 2, 1860. Here is the view taken by a journal 
outside of the State, but near it and well informed as to the 
situation. On the day before the election it said: "The 
great contest in Connecticut to-day is awaited with interest 
and anxiety all over the country." The next day, in 
announcing the result, it said : — 

There is no drawback in the Republican victory in Connecticut. It 
is complete, decisive, and the Union stands. On the matter of slavery 
extension, and the perpetuation of the reign of the slave power in 
national affairs, New England is a unit. Money was poured into the 
Stale for the purpose of buying voters, and every gain that the Demo- 
crats have made has been made with money. They have bought up 
the foreign population of the large towns. But they have made no 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 51 

converts, thank God, among Americans, who know their rights and 
their wrongs, and who have been educated to liberty and liberal 
ideas. There is not money enough in the hands of the Democratic 
party to buy Connecticut. That State is Republican to-day simply 
because it is a State in which education, intelligence and Christian 
morality have the ascendency over ignorance, vice, and political cor- 
ruption. It is doubtful whether in any previous election in New 
England, the tactics of such political scoundrels as Fernando Wood 
have been so shamelessly resorted to as in this. There are enough 
facts already patent to show that voters were imported like cattle, 
and were "put through" by the most wholesale perjury. This is 
new business for Connecticut and for New England, and we trust 
that the Republican Legislature now elected will so alter the laws 
as hereafter to render such abuses impossible. The Republican 
victory in Connecticut on Monday last, is the eighth in succesion 
which her political records exhibit, but none of the seven previous 
so proved her faith, so tried her virtue, so fixed her political char- 
acter as has this. Beset on every side but not cast down, Connecticut 
can no longer be regarded as a doubtful or fickle State in politics. 
— [Springfield Republican, April 1th. 

The existence of such fraud in that election was of course 
denied, but the evidence in support of it, though not ab- 
solutely direct, was sufficient to leave no reasonable doubt 
in the minds of intelligent observers. It is unnecessary to 
go into the question at length. The verdict has been 
pronounced, and is not likely to be reversed. We know, 
however, that the aggregate vote of Connecticut in that 
election was 88,395, or 9,599 larger than the year before, 
and 8,060 larger than in the presidential election of 1858. 
Governor Buckingham's plurality was only 541. Indeed, 
the election was so close that when the first returns came 
into New Haven, and that city and Hartford, and Middle- 
town and Bridgeport — places so closely connected by 
steamboats with New York — were found to have given Mr. 
Seymour their votes by good majorities, those who were 
prominent upon that ticket were called out and congrat- 
ulated upon their election; and their modest acknowl- 
edgments had only commenced, when "Buckingham!'^ 
" Buckingham !" came telegraphed over the lines from the 



. 52 WILLIAM A. BU(^KINGHAM. 

eastern part of the State, and from most of the smaller and 
inland towns, which entirely changed the result. And that 
name borne on the night air over the anxious crowd, and 
in at every listening window, was the one which for the 
next years of struggle and conflict was to rally the State to 
its heroic work, and is now breathed tenderly in so many of 
her homes. This re-election secured to the Republicans a 
good working majority in both branches of the Legislature, 
and secured the return of Lafayette S. Foster to the United 
States Senate, where he was President of the Senate when 
President Lincoln was assassinated, and where he must 
have succeeded him in that office, had the plans of the 
conspirators proved successful, and the Vice-President also 
been put out of the way. 

The Governor was inaugurated at New Haven, Wednes- 
day, May 1860, with the usual parade and ceremonies. 
His message was a plain, business-like document, devoted 
to the affairs of the State, with the exception of the fol- 
lowing reference to the great issues before the country, 
and the demands of the Southern States which the people 
of Connecticut repudiated : — 

Entertaining these opinions, they feel called upon by the mag- 
nitude of the interests already involved; interests which are aug- 
mented year by year as this nation presses on toward maturity; to 
enter their solemn protest against the assumption and exercise of 
powers by the General Government for the protection of slavery in 
the common territories, or for perpetuating the system; and they 
feel justified in adopting all constitutional measures to prevent the 
extension of an institution which can only be sustained by the censor- 
ship of the press, by interrupting the legal channels of intelligence, 
and by enacting laws which are in conflict with the natural rights of 
men, and in violation of those principles of eternal justice which are 
of universal application, and which read back of, and are anterior to, 
any human code. They are, and ever have been, devotedly attached 
to the Federal Union, but believe that loyalty to the General Govern- 
ment cannot be maintained in any section of our country, unless the 
people can freely, fully, and fearlessly discuss the principles upon 
which it is founded, and on which it must be sustained. They will 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 63 

vindicate themselves before the v^orld, in embracing every offered 
opportunity to influence the administration of the Federal Govern- 
ment so as to accomplish the mission which God designed this nation 
to fulfill, — the establishment and extension of the blessings of freedom, 
civilization and Christianity. — [Message of 1860. 

The Governor also called attention to some of the election 
laws under which so much fraud had been practiced, and 
recommended their repeal, which was immediately done. 
The law especially referred to was the one which allowed 
a voter in one town to vote on certiificate in any other ; a 
law proper enough in itself but easily perverted, as it had 
been to such an extent, and with such peril to the State 
and to the nation. The existence of such fraud was dis- 
puted, but when the charge was so publicly made and gen- 
erally believed that these certificates were filled in with the 
names of dead or missing Democratic voters, and sent down 
to New York and put into the hands of men who were to 
take the boats Monday night, and deposit them unchal- 
lenged the next day at the polls in Connecticut; when 
respectable papers estimated them at not less than 2,700, 
and congratulated the State that a considerable portion of 
these "sham Democratic voters" would be missing at the 
coming presidential election because they would be needed 
at home then ; and when the Legislature were so well con- 
vinced of the fraud that they hastened to prevent the 
repetition of it ; there can be little doubt that such a fraud 
was practiced. And what if it had been successful ? Con- 
necticut would have lost her vote and her proper repre- 
sentative at home and in the next Congress.' Her example 
would have been lost upon the nation, and her true position 
misrepresented in that great struggle to preserve the Union 
and check the encroachments of slavery. Her true place 
in history would have been falsified, and the stigma fixed 
upon a neighboring State of having wronged her thus, and 
-wronged the nation, without being herself a slave State, or 
having the miserable motive to save an institution of her 



64 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

own and the great pecuniary value of it. It was the same 
crime attempted against Kansas, whose fraudulent Lecomp- 
ton Constitution was to be accepted, because it had been 
" duly certified " by the proper authorities, although repudi- 
ated by the country, and which Congress dared not adopt, 
though the South demanded it, and the President recom- 
mended it, and so many of the administrative party at the 
North favored it. Such a crime looks strangely now, 
whether accomplished or attempted, and will look still 
worse in the clearer light of history, and every one must 
be thankful that in neither case could it be effected. 

In the meantime the country was unconsciously prepar- 
ing for the election of Mr. Lincoln. As yet he was little 
known to the country. Ho had often been a member of the 
Illinois Legislature, and in 1847-8 represented the State in 
Congress, in the House. This was during the Mexican 
war, and he showed himself opposed to the extension of 
slavery. Still his position was not extensively known, 
certainly not his abilities as afterwards developed. And 
it was not until ten years after, when the struggle over 
Kansas was going on, and Senator Douglas was a candidate 
for re-election, that Abraham Lincoln was declared to be 
''the first and only choice of the Republicans of Illinois for 
the United States Senate as the successor of Stephen A. 
Douglas." It was this canvass of 1858, and the speeches 
which he then made that brought him into general notice, 
and while his views represented well the general sentiment 
of the North on the slavery questions, he showed himself 
able to encounter successfully his opponent, the ablest 
})olitical leader in the country — for such was Senator 
Diiuglas. A graphic and justly discriminating characteri- 
zation of the two men is given by Mr. Blaine: — 

Mr. Douglas was everywhere known as a debater of singular skill. 
His mind was fertile in resources. He was master of logic. No man 
perceived more quickly than he the strength or the weakness of an 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 55 

argument, and no one excelled him in the use of sophistry and 
fallacy. Where he could not elucidate a point to his own advantage, 
he would fatally becloud it for his opponent. In that peculiar style 
of debate which, in its intensity resembles a physical combat, he had 
no equal. He spoke with extraordinary readiness. There was no 
halting in his phrase. He used good English, terse, vigorous, pointed. 
He disregarded the adornments of rhetoric, rarely used a simile. 
He was utterly destitute of humor, and had .slight appreciation of 
wit. He never cited historical precedents except from the domain of 
American politics. Inside of that field his knowledge was compre- 
hensive, minute, critical. Beyond it his learning was limited. He 
was not a reader. His recreations were not in literature. In the 
whole range of his voluminous speaking it would be difficult to find 
either a line of poetry or a classical allusion. But he was by nature 
an orator, by long practice a debater. He could lead a crowd almost 
irresistibly to his own conclusions. He could, if he wished, incite a 
mob to desperate deeds. He was, in short, an able, audacious, 
almost unconquerable opponent in public debate. It would have been 
impossible to find any man of the same type able to meet him before 
the people of Illinois. Whoever attempted it would probably have 
been destroyed in the first encounter. But the man who was chosen 
to meet him, who challenged him to the combat, was radically dif- 
ferent in every phase of character. Scarcely could two men be more 
unlike, in mental and moral constitution, than Abraham Lincoln and 
Stephen A. Douglas. Mr. Lincoln was calm and philosophical. He 
loved the truth for the truth's sake. He would not argue from a false 
premise, or be deceived himself or deceive others by a false con- 
clusion. He had pondered deeply on the issues which aroused him 
to action. He had given anxious thought to the problems of free 
government, and to the destiny of the Republic. He had for himself 
marked out a path of duty, and he walked in it fearlessly. His 
mental processes were slower but more profound than those of 
Douglas. He did not seek to say merely the thing that was best for 
that day's debate, but the thing which would stand the test of time 
and square with eternal justice. He wished nothing to appear white 
unless it was white. His logic was severe and faultless. He did not 
resort to fallacy, and could detect it in his opponent, and expose it 
with merciless directness. He had an abounding sense of humor, 
and always employed it in illustration of his argument, never for the 
mere sake of provoking merriment. In this respect he had the 
wonderful aptness of Franklin. He often taught a great truth with 
the felicitous brevity of an ^sop fable. His words did not flow in 
an impetuous torrent, as di<l those of Douglas, but they were always 
well chosen, deliberate, and conclusive. — [" Twenty Years in Con- 
gress,'" Vol. I., p. 144. 



66 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

In the struggle over the Lecompton Constitution, the 
country had reached this point: the South was determined 
to impose slavery upon Kansas without her consent (since 
the people were opposed to it), and here was where the 
administration was unable to carry such a measure through 
Congress, while the North had such respect for the popular 
vote, and regarded it as so fundamental in our form of 
government, that they never would allow it to be over- 
ridden, especially when it was to be done to perpetuate and 
extend slavery. Mr. Douglas's political course could never 
have been satisfactory to the South, had he not aided them 
in their great purpose. He was the author of the repeal of 
the Missouri Compromise, and approved of the Dred- Scott 
Decision, and the Fugitive Slave Laws, and so he might 
properly expect the support of the South in his aspirations 
after the presidency, for which his prospects were the 
fairest of any member of the Democratic party. But how 
about the North, and the party in his own State ? Would 
they indorse such positions, and especially force slavery 
upon a people that repudiated it ? At another time they 
might have suffered it, but not then, after the fierce dis- 
cussions and dangerous measures resorted to, to accomplish 
such a purpose, for the last ten years. So while his public 
record made him popular at the South, it was going to em- 
barrass him, if not defeat his re-election to the Senate, proud 
as his party at home were of his ability and ready to follow 
his leadership. So here he made much of his opposition 
to the Lecompton Constitution because it had been repu- 
diated by the people. It was a brave and noble thing in 
him, in spite of his record, and in opposition to the Pres- 
ident and almost the whole Democratic party in Congress, 
to take and maintain as he did such a distinctively Northern 
position. True, it removed him from the leadership of his 
party, and robbed him of the presidency, or at least of a 
favorable nomination for it and a probable election. The 



WILLIAM A, BUCKINGHAM. 57 

President and his party in Congress turned bitterly against 
him, and when his claims were urged upon the Presidential 
Convention at Charleston, the convention was divided and 
broken up, and when it reassembled at Baltimore, his 
defeat was only made sure. But it was only this that 
secured his re-election to the Senate in 1858, from Illinois. 
He planted himself squarely upon "State Sovereignty," a 
happy phrase of his own coining, and which was popularly 
translated into " Squatter Sovereignty," or the sovereignty 
which the first settlers, or " squatters," acquire over the 
land they settle, and made such use of it as seemingly to 
meet all the demands of a liberty-loving people in respect 
to this fundamental and all-important popular right. But 
how was this to satisfy the South and their expectations 
from the next President, especially when he invented 
another phrase, " unfriendly legislation," as unfortunate 
for him at the South as the other had been fortunate at the 
North ? By this was meant that, while the people had the 
right to vote slavery out, or vote it into their State, they 
might still by police regulations and "unfriendly legisla- 
tion" prevent its existence there, as some of the free States 
were doing by their Personal Liberty Bills, virtually 
defeating the Fugitive Slave Law. And if this could satisfy 
the liberty-loving North, what so fitted to awaken the sus- 
picions and bitterest hostility of the slave-holding South as 
such jugglery, admitting what the law requires and then 
teaching how to break it. 

Thus, in those great debates between Mr. Douglas and 
Mr. Lincoln, so ably conducted and long continued over the 
whole State, the former found himself in a dangerous 
dilemma, of which the latter could not fail to avail himself. 
Indeed, Mr. Lincoln perceived at once the weak point in all 
his defenses, and resolved to press him there. So in the 
course of these debates, when they were allowed to ask each 
other questions and were required to answer them, Mr. 



58 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Lincoln proposed four, three of them harmless enough, but 
the other interpolated among the rest, was this : " Can the 
people of a United States Territory, in any lawful way, 
against the wish of any citizen of the United States, 
exclude slavery from its own limits prior to the formation 
of a State Constitr.tion ?" The meaning of it was : What 
right has a State to legislate slavery out, where by the 
Constitution and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
and the Dred-Scott Decision, it has a right to go in? Mr. 
Douglas's answer was : " It matters not what way the 
Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract 
question, whether slavery may or may not go into a ter- 
ritory under the Constitution ; the people have the lawful 
means to introduce or exclude it, as they please, for the 
reason that slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere 
unless it is supported by local police regulations. Those 
police regulations can only be established by the local 
Legislature, or if the people are opposed to slavery, they 
will elect representatives to that body who will, by un- 
friendly legislation, effectually prevent the introduction of 
it into their midst." Such a transparent sophism, that a 
thing " may be lawfully driven away from a place where it 
has a lawful right to go," his opponent did not fail to 
expose and hold up to popular ridicule, which, while it did 
not rob Douglas of the support of his party to whom he was 
an ideal leader, did blast his prospects for the presidency 
elsewhere. Indeed, Mr. Lincoln seems to have correctly 
forecast the results of that political canvass from the first, 
for he told his friends that his opponent must impale him- 
self upon one horn or the other of that dilemma. If he 
says, " Yes," he loses his Southern support, and if he says, 
" No," he loses the support of the North. He said, "Yes," 
and carried his State and secured his senatorship, but he 
lost the country and the presidency, while Mr. Lincoln 
went home with neither a senatorship nor at this time any 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 59 

prospect of the presidency. His position, however, was the 
right one, and he showed such ability and trustworthiness 
and moral earnestness — this last the very quality in which 
Mr. Douglas was most deficient — that he soon came to be 
appreciated, and when the time called for such a man he 
was put in nomination and triumphantly elected to the pres- 
idency. As some one has justly characterized these men: — 

" The difference in this respect between the two men is well illus- 
trated in their discussions of the subject of slavery. The former 
never treats slavery as if it had anything right or wrong in it, any- 
thing objectionable in it any more than freedom, and if the Constitu- 
tion and the laws allowed its restriction or prohibition, he had no more 
objection to its being voted into a State or Territory than to its being 
voted out, if the people wanted it. He cared not whether 'it was 
voted up or voted down,' as he said, while Mr. Lincoln made this the 
'real issue, the eternal struggle between these two principles, right 
and wrong.' " 

As for Mr. Douglas, the position he had taken cost him 
the regular nomination. All the Southern elements of his 
party turned against him, and a section of his party at the 
North. The President and his cabinet bitterly resented 
his opposition to their favorite measure of forcing slavery 
upon Kansas without regard to the wishes of the people. 
So when he was returned to the Senate he found himself 
deposed from the chairmanship of the committee on ter- 
ritories, the position which he had long held, and where he 
had framed and advocated some of the most objectionable 
measures of the administration in respect to slavery in 
Kansas. And when the Democratic National Convention 
assembled in April at Charleston, S. C, instead of finding 
his claims to the presidency generally admitted, as they 
might have been before his Illinois campaign, they were so 
strenuously and bitterly opposed, that the delegations from 
several of the Southern States withdrew and utterly refused 
to have anything to do with the nomination of such a can- 
didate. Finally, after fifty-seven ballots, in which it was 



60 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

impossible to secure Mr. Douglas's nomination, though he 
always led his competitors, the convention adjourned to re- 
assemble in Baltimore in June. Here in a convention 
where eight of the Southern States were not represented,. 
he was nominated, and the ticket thus presented to the 
people read: Hon. Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, Pres- 
ident, Hon. Herschell V. Johnson of Georgia, Vice-President. 
This ticket represented that portion of the Democratic 
party who held that slavery was not to be imposed upon 
the people of any territory without their consent, though 
they accepted, with Mr. Douglas, the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise, the D red-Scott Decision, and the Fugitive 
Slave Law. 

The Seceders' Convention, which met first at Richmond, 
the same month, and then adjourned to Baltimore, agreed 
upon this ticket : Hon. John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, 
President, and Gen. Joseph Lane of Oregon, Vice-President. 
They held that a slaveholder might take his slaves into any 
territory or free State, and that the government was bound 
to protect his right to such property there, in spite of the 
votes and laws of such a State or territory. 

When the Republican Convention came together at 
Chicago in May, Mr. Lincoln was not regarded as so likely 
to secure their nomination as some others, particularly Mr. 
Seward of New York. The latter was sure to carry his 
own State, with her great vote of seventy delegates, while 
his ability and public record were altogether in his favor, 
and on the first ballot he led all others. But upon the 
third ballot Mr. Lincoln was found to have received the 
requisite majority, which the New York delegation, through 
Mr. William M. Evarts, generously proposed to make unan- 
imous, and this was done with great heartiness. Hon. 
Hannibal Hamlin was put upon the same ticket, so that it 
stood : Hon. Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, President, and 
Hon. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, Vice-President. And 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 61 

this represented slavery as a local and not a national 
institution, which Congress had no power to establish in 
any territory, without the consent of the inhabitants, or 
•to legalize in any free State. 

The "Constitutional Union" party had also their ticket, 
which bore the names of Hon. John Bell of Tennessee for 
President, and Hon. Edward Everett for Vice-President. 
This was chiefly meant to be a conservative ticket, and 
pledged simply to uphold " the Constitution of the country, 
the union of the States, and the enforcement of the laws," 
without going into any particulars as to the application of 
the Constitution and the laws, to the questions that had 
arisen in respect to slavery. 

On these various issues, and in this critical state of the 
•country, the several parties went into the presidential can- 
vass. Never had there been such intense interest felt in 
any presidential election before. Never had there been any 
such reason for it, when the success of one party was to 
revolutionize the principles of the government, so far as it 
recognized " all men as free and equal " before the law and 
possessed of "certain unalienable rights," and was to 
change entirely in this respect the future policy of the gov- 
ernment, and when the success of another party threatened 
to break up the Union. It is needless to say that the 
struggle was a fierce one, engaging the ability, the principle, 
the passion of the whole land, and attracting the attention 
from other lands of those who wished well to our free 
government, or feared the influence of its success upon 
other forms of government. 

The result of this presidential election of November 6, 
1860, was that Mr. Lincoln carried 17 of the 33 States, and 
received 180 out of the 303 electoral votes, and out of 
the popular vote of more than four million and a half 
(4,645,390), he had a plurality over Mr. Douglas of half a 
million (566,036). 



62 WILLIAM A. BUCK1N(JHAM. 

Here opens a new period in our history, more important 
than any other, unless it was the framing of our Constitu- 
tion and the organization of the government. And while 
that required such wisdom and regard for human rights, 
and fair adjustment of all conflicting interests, as will make 
it forever memorable in the framing of human institutions; 
this new period is to require different and more heroic 
qualities than even those, if, in the language of Mr. Lincoln, 
"this nation, under God, was to have a new birth of free- 
dom, and that the government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people, should not perish from off the earth." 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Secession Movement. 

Its Growth Traced from the Nullification Days — Breaking Up of 
Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet — His Own Partial Change of Opinion — 
How and Why South Carolina Forced Secession— Most of the 
Slave States Averse to It. 

Secession began thirty years before the outbreak of the 
war, when South Carolina undertook to nullify the revenue 
laws under the old tariff, and would have resorted to 
violence had it not have been for Mr. Webster in the 
Senate, and General Jackson in the presidency. The one 
carried the nation with him in his argument to prove the 
unconstitutionality of such a measure, or the safety of any 
such mode of redressing wrongs, and the other on some 
great occasion swore his solemn oath that " the Union must 
and shall be preserved." 

But no such man was at the head of the government 
now. Mr. Buchanan, after the election of Mr. Lincoln, 
and of the new members to Congress, had shown that the 
people had repudiated his pro-slavery schemes, still insisted 
upon their adoption. When Congress came together in 
December, 1860, he sent in that "mischievous and deplor- 
able message," as it has been justly termed, which encour- 
aged the South to push on their secession and war measures, 
until they were compelled to fight the government. Most 
likely they would have done it in any case, but it is to be 
regretted that they had such encouragement to think they 
could do it with impunity. In this message he attributed 
the threatened dissolution of the Union to the " violent and 
incessant agitation of the slavery questions throughout the 



64 WILLIAM A. BUCKlN(iUAM. 

North for the last quarter of a century," apparently uncon- 
scious of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the 
Fugitive Slave Law, and the attempt to force slavery upon 
Kansas, or that these measures were a sufficient cause for 
such agitation and discussion. He held that while the 
election of a President by one class of citizens, who is objec- 
tionable to another class, "does not afford just cause for 
dissolving the Union," there may be such a cause, and 
refers as such a cause to "the palpable violations of con- 
stitutional duty by different State legislatures to defeat the 
execution of the Fugitive Slave Law." He denies the right 
of secession, and makes a good argument against it, but 
neutralizes it all, and worse than neutralizes it, by telling 
the South that if they do secede the government has no 
right to use force to prevent it. " Congress possesses many 
means for preserving the Union by conciliation, but the 
sword was not placed in its hands to preserve it by force." 
He justifies revolution, though not secession, saying: "The 
right of resistance on the part of the governed against the 
oppression of their governments cannot be denied." So 
that the South had only to call their secession, revolution, 
as they virtually did, to justify it, and feel safe from any 
serious interference from an administration that conceived 
it had no right to use force to prevent it. The remedy pro- 
posed by the President was an explanatory amendment of 
the Constitution, which there was no prospect of ever 
securing, so that this message brought no relief to the 
North, and only left the South to call their proposed seces- 
sion a revolution, and prosecute it with vigor as long as 
this administration should last, knowing that they were to 
expect no serious hindrance from this quarter, whatever 
might be feared from the incoming administration. 

This position, however, could not long be maintained. 
Indeed, Mr. Buchanan's message indicated the division in 
his own cabinet, where the Secessionists had carried their 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 65 

point, but where the Union sentiment of the country was 
beginning to be felt and was bound to express itself. 
General Cass, Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of State, had 
become satisfied that such a position was abetting treason, 
and would only end in breaking up the government. He 
was a life-long Democrat, an able and honored leader of his 
party, deserving of an honorable place in the history of the 
government, and now in his old age to be mixed up with 
treason, and implicated in what threatened to be the dis- 
solution of the Union, was more than he could bear. When 
he found that the President would not insist upon the col- 
lection of the national revenue in South Carolina, or upon 
strengthening the forts in Charleston harbor, he resigned. 
Judge Black, a younger and more brilliant man, in the 
prime of his political manhood and ambition, who was Mr. 
Buchanan's Attorney-General, and had been in a large 
degree responsible for the President's pro-slavery positions, 
succeeded General Cass at the head of the State depart- 
ment. Startled by the retreat of his predecessor, and by 
the gulf that yawned before him, and satisfied that his 
position was a wrong one and that he had been misleading 
the President, he nobly resolved to retrace his steps and 
save the administration if possible, but at any rate to save 
the Union and the government. The cabinet was a nest of 
conspiracy, where such men as Cobb, Floyd, and Thompson 
were disarming the North and robbing the treasury, and 
where Davis, Toombs, Benjamin, and Slidell of the Senate, 
had a controlling influence. But the President, who always 
had great respect for Judge Black, and had been guided 
by his counsels, became convinced that he was ruining his 
administration, if not breaking up the government. So his 
secretary, together with Mr. Holt, a Southern man, but a 
loyal one, and Edwin M. Stanton who soon became such a 
pillar of strength to the government, and who had just 
become Attorney-General, were allowed to frame an answer 



^66 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

to the mischievous message already sent in to Congress. In 
this new message of January 8, 1861, the President qual- 
ifies the former one as well as he is able, though without 
much success, but here takes one advanced and just position, 
where, without any reference to his fatal admission that the 
government could use no force to prevent secession, he now 
claims that "as the chief executive under the Constituti(m 
of the United States," he has no alternative but "to collect 
the public revenues, and to protect the public property, so 
far as this might be practicable under existing laws." And 
he declares it as his own conviction that "the right and 
duty to use military force defensively against those who 
resist the Federal officers in the execution of their legal 
functions, and against thuse who assail the property of the 
Federal government, are clear and undeniable." Even this 
admission gave hope to the North, and roused the South to 
deeper indignation than ever. But what did most to inspire 
such sentiments was the indication it gave that the con- 
spirators had been driven out of the cabinet, and that the 
chief movers in secession had lost control of the President. 
It was well received at the North, and in the spirit of con- 
ciliation the people were disposed to abstain from all that 
was needlessly irritating, and to make any reasonable 
adjustments for the sake of peace. Some of the Legis- 
latures were repealing their personal liberty laws, the most 
objectionable and perhaps the most illegal of any. 

But secession was making rapid progress, and the leaders 
in the movement, particularly in South Carolina, without 
waiting to see what would be the disposition of the new 
administration, and what position Mr. Lincoln would take 
in regard to the questions at issue, were bent on precip- 
itating a conflict of force between that State and the general 
government. The governor of the State, in his message to 
the State Legislature, dated the day before the presidential 
election took place, says: — 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 67 

In view of the threatened aspect of aifairs, and the strong 
probability of the election to the presidency of a sectional candidate, 
by a party committed to the support of measures which, if carried 
out, will inevitably destroy our equality in the Union, and ultimately 
reduce the Southern States to mere provinces of a consolidated 
despotism, to be governed by a fixed majority in Congress hostile to 
our institutions and fatally bent upon our ruin, I would respect- 
fully suggest that the Legislature remain in session, and take such 
action as will prepare the State for any emergency that may arise. 
I would earnestly recommend that in the event of Abraham Lincoln's 
election to the presidency, a convention of the people be imme- 
diately called, to consider and determine for themselves the mode 
and measure of redress. I am constrained to say that the only 
alternative left, in my judgment, is the secession of South Carolina 
from the Federal Union. The State has with great unanimity declared 
that she has the right peaceably to secede, and no power on earth can 
rightfully prevent it. If in the exercise of arbitrary power and for- 
ge tfulness of the lessons of history, the government of the United 
States should attempt coercion, it will become our solemn duty to 
meet force by force. — [Governor GisVs Message, November 5, 1860. 

So he recommends that "the services of ten thousand 
volunteers be immediately accepted, that they be organized 
and drilled by officers chosen by themselves, and hold them- 
selves in readiness to be called on upon the shortest notice." 
Hon. James Chestnut, Jr., one of their senators in Con- 
gress, at the same time gave such counsel as this to the 
people: "The question was, Should the South submit to 
a black Republican President and a black Republican Con • 
gress ? For myself, I would unfurl the palmetto flag, 
fling it to the breeze, and, with the spirit of a brave man, 
determine to live and die as became our glorious ancestors." 
Hon. William W. Boyce, then a leading representative of 
that State in Congress, thus counsels them: " I think the 
only policy for us is to arm as soon as we receive authentic 
intelligence of the election of Lincoln." Such counsel and 
such measures were proposed, it should be observed, before 
Mr. Lincoln had been elected, or before the news of it had 
been received at Charleston. And when the news came, it 
seems to have been a source of general satisfaction, instead 



68 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

of regret, judging from the Charleston papers and the 
reporters for other papers who were there. The people 
thronged the streets, talking, laughing, cheering, and con- 
gratulating one another, as if the State could now be urged 
on into violent resistance of the general government, and 
the other slave States be compelled to stand by them in 
defence of the position they had taken. As the people 
were told at the time: "The first drop of blood spilled on 
the soil of South Carolina will bring Virginia and every 
Southern State with them." So the secession of the State 
was pushed on with unseemly haste, as if it required neither 
wisdom, nor prudence, nor harmonious support from the 
other States that were finally dragged into it. As has been 
said: "The unnatural and unprecedented haste of this 
action, by which South Carolina proceeded, is more easily 
comprehended by recalling the difficult mode provided in 
every State for a change in its Constitution. In not a 
single State of the American Union can an organic law be 
changed in less than a year, or without ample opportunity 
for serious consideration by the people. At that very 
moment the people of South Carolina were forbidden to 
make the slightest alteration in their own Constitution, 
except by slow and conservative processes, which gave time 
for deliberation and reflection. In determining a question 
momentous beyond all calculation to themselves and to 
their posterity, they were hurried into the election of del- 
egates, and the delegates were hurried into convention, and 
the convention was hurried into secession, by a terror of 
public opinion that would endure no resistance, or would 
not listen to reason." The rashness and mad haste which 
characterized their proceedings are shown in the fact that 
within a week after the election of Mr. Lincoln was known, 
the Legislature of South Carolina had enacted a bill for the 
election of delegates to a secession convention and the 
election was to take place within a month, and that conven- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 69 

tion was held, and had taken the State out of the Union, 
all within fifty days. The presidential election took place 
November 6th; the bill for the election of delegates was 
passed the 12th; the election took place the 6th of 
December; the secession convention met the 17th; and 
four days after, South Carolina had enacted her solemn 
*' ordinance of secession" without a single dissenting vote. 
Its title was : " An ordinance to dissolve the union between 
the State of South Carolina and the other States united 
with her under the compact entitled the Constitution of the 
United States of America." Nor did they seem to consider 
it necessary to give any particular and justifying i-easons 
for their secession or rebellion, call it which we may, or con- 
sider how they would appear to the rest of the world, and 
in coming history. Our fathers, when they drew up and 
published to the world their Declaration of Independence, 
thought "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind 
requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation." And they recite twenty or thirty 
distinct charges of oppression and tyranny on the. part of 
the mother country, as contrary to the fundamental laws of 
the realm, if not a violation of the natural and inalienable 
rights of humanity, which justify them in undertaking a 
better system of self-government. In the secession ordi- 
nance no reasons are given for it, and in the organization 
of the Confederate government, which took place a little 
later, little justification of it is offered more than that the 
North would not accept slavery, and they were afraid it 
would be hemmed in within its established and constitu- 
tional limits, which was certainly quite as much of a justifi- 
cation of the course of the free States as of the slave 
States. Nor did they seem to have any definite plan of a 
government for tliemselves when they should have with- 
drawn from the Union, except that it should be Republican 
in form, like the old one, but should chiefly protect and 



70 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

foster their favorite institution, instead of freedom, and be 
at liberty to annex foreign territory for its extension, and 
reopen the African slave trade to furnish cheaper slave 
labor. They did not even wait before they seceded, till 
they were sure of the support of the other slave States. 
North Carolina when consulted positively refused to take 
any hasty steps. Louisiana, knowiing her dependence upon 
the trade of the Mississippi river, expressed an utter disin- 
clination to separate from the Northwest. Georgia would 
agree to some retaliatory legislation, but was not ready to 
resist the general government,* And in her secession con- 
vention, called on purpose to take her out of the Union, it 
was only accomplished by a vote of 165 to 130 against it. 
Thus when the Confederate government was organized, it 
was made up of only seven States of the fifteen slave States 
and the District of Columbia, with no prospect whatever 
that any one of the eighteen free States would ever join 
them. As has been said : " After the conspiracy had had 
complete possession of the public mind for three months, 
with the Southern members of the cabinet, nearly all the 
Federal officei-s, most of the governors, and other State 
functionaries, and seven-eighths of the prominent and 
active politicians, pushing it on, and no force exerted to 
resist it, a majority of the slave States, with two-thirds 
of the free population of the entire slaveholding region, 
was openly or positively averse to it, either because they 
regarded the alleged grievances of the South as exaggerated 
if not unreal, or because they believed that those wrongs 
would rather be aggravated than cured by disunion " — 
whatever fearlessness and disregard of consequences were 
exhibited, and might have been justified in a better cause, 



* Duriug the session of the convention, tlie president announced an address 
from a portion of the Legislature of Georgia, which he thought shovild not be 
made public, and it was not, but was afterwards understood to be an appeal from 
fifty-two of the member* of that body for delay and consultation among the slave 
States —[Greeley, Vol. 1. p. 345. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 11 

where truth and righteousness and freedom demanded 
any risk and every sacrifice, the cause which inspired 
such reckless courage commands no respect whatever, and 
such an undertaking must stand in history as a warning 
rather than any encouragement to the friends of freedom 
and popular government. The truth is the Confederate 
government was never adopted by the people. It was never 
submitted to them for adoption, but soon became a military 
despotism. 

The question at once arises : How could such a state of 
things have been brought about ? And why was South 
Carolina so willing to lead off in such a reckless enter- 
prise ? She was not only interested with the other slave 
States in preserving slavery, and annoyed like the rest that 
the free States should think that system wrong, and pro- 
voked beyond measure that the free States would not allow 
them to take such property into free territory and hold it 
there as they would in slave territory, but South Carolina, 
that proud and sensitive people, had always been mortified 
by the failure of her attempt to nullify the revenue laws of 
the general government. She had had many able men in 
the public service, and been almost as much as Virginia 
the mother of statesmen. Unfortunately one of her ablest, 
Mr. Calhoun, had adopted a theory of state rights, which 
Mr. Webster so plainly showed was inconsistent with any 
general government. And when Southern men like General 
Jackson were convinced of it, and men of both sections 
and all parties joined in asserting such a political heresy, 
and this State had to submit, and rest under the implication 
of treason toward the government, she never could forget 
it, or fail to watch for an opportunity to feed her revenge. 
Knowing also that the South was not likely to deliberately 
go into any such movement again, it was determined to 
take advantage of the long and bitter contest over the 
extension of slavery, to get out of the Union at any cost, 



72 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

even conflict and civil war. 8he hardly thought, and found 
reason for it in the President's last message and the posi- 
tion of the Administration party, that the North would 
never really go to war to save the Union. And if she 
resorted to violence, and became involved in a struggle for 
her own rights, and for their common institution which 
was in peril, the other slave States must come to her help. 
So her great endeavor was to alarm and inflame the South. 
She was more than half glad that Mr. Lincoln had been 
elected. Now was the time if ever to avenge her wrongs 
and get out of the Union. She was almost afraid the 
North would not fight: "We must throw blood in their 
faces to make them." So they set to work, through the 
Secession members of the President's cabinet, to strip the 
Northern arsenals, scatter our army and navy, seize upon 
the national forts, navy yards and public property, expecting 
to carry out their plans successfully, if not with impunity. 

It was a plan, a long-laid plan, a conspiracy, a treason- 
able plot to accomplish this very end, and by violence and 
war if necessary. Thus Mr. Rhett of Charleston, eminent 
in the public service of the State, declared in their Secession 
convention : " The secession of South Carolina is not an 
event of a day. It is not anything produced by Mr. Lin- 
coln's election, or by the non-execution of the Fugitive 
Slave Law. It is a matter which has been gathering head 
for thirty years." And Mr. Parker, another member of 
the convention, said : " It is no spasmodic effort that has 
come suddenly upon us ; it has been gradually culminating 
for a long period of thirty years. At last it has come to 
that point where we may say the matter is entirely ripe." 
This means that ever since their nullification scheme failed 
they had been planning another secession or rebellion, and 
that the opportunity for which they had so long been wait- 
ing had come and should be seized upon gladly. On this 
point Mr. Greeley says : — 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 73 

A convention of Southern governors was held at Raleigh, N. C, at 
the invitation of Governor Wise of Virginia, in 1856. This gathering 
was kept secret at the time, but it was afterwards proclaimed by 
Governor Wise that had Fremont been elected he would have marched 
at the head of twenty thousand men to Washington, and taken 
possession of the Capitol, and prevented Fremont's inauguration 
there by force. In the same spirit a meeting of the prominent 
politicians of South Carolina was held at the residence of Senator 
Hammond, near Augusta, in October, 1860. Governor Gist, ex-Gov- 
ernor Adams, ex-Speaker Orr, and the entire delegation to Congress, 
except Mr. Miles who was kept away by sickness, were present with 
many other men of rank. By this cabal it was unanimously agreed, 
that South Carolina should secede from the Union in the event of 
Mr. Lincoln's then almost certain election. Similar meetings of 
kindred spirits were held simultaneously, or soon after, in Georg.ia, 
Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and probably other slave States. By 
these meetings, and by tlie incessant interchanse of messages, let- 
ters, and visits, the entire slaveholding region had been prepared, 
so far as possible, for disunion in the event of a Republican, if not 
also a Douglas triumpli. — [Greelei/s American Conflict, Vol. I.j)- 329. 

The instigators and leaders in it were Howel Cobb, Presi- 
dent Buchanan's Secretary of the Treasury, who bankrupted 
the treasury and then resigned; John B. Floyd, Secretary 
of War, who disarmed the North to arm the South before 
he resigned; Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, 
in whose department a defalcation of nearly a million of 
dollars was discovered when he surrendered his office to 
Jefferson Davis, senator from Mississippi, who became 
President of the Confederacy ; Robert Toombs, senator 
from Georgia, the most insolent of all in his treason ; Judah 
P, Benjamin, senator from Louisiana, the most astute and 
brilliant of that body of men, and John Slidell. the Cataline 
of the conspiracy. Such were the men at whose instigation 
and under whose leadership this fearful step was taken, and 
Charleston was the spot where such counsel was carried out 
to its awful results. So that it might have been said at 
the outset, with almost prophetic exactness : " The rebel- 
lion which begins where Charleston is shall end where 
Charleston was." 



CHAPTER V. 

Peace Convention. 

The Connecticut Delegation in the Washington Convention — Governor 

Buckingham's Letter of Instructions — Connecticut's Proposition 
for a Convention on Amendment of the Constitution — Tlie Atti- 
tude of Virginia and the Report in Congress. 

Ever since Mr. Lincoln's election was assured, and the 
South showed such a determination not to submit to it, the 
North had taken special pains to placate them. And it 
was not merely the Democratic party, who with the South 
had lost the election, nor was it the business portion of 
the North only, who had great pecuniary interests at stake. 
The Northern people as a mass, and their statesmen and 
the leaders of the Republican party, were wonderfully con- 
ciliatory. To be sure it was attributed to self-interest and 
fear, and the South was led to think that we could never 
prosper without them, and were certainly too base minded 
and craven hearted to fight for any principles, however 
much we might profess to value them. Nor was it strange, 
perhaps, though it was inexpressibly sad, that in their mad- 
ness and insane purpose to break up the Union, they should 
have had such encouragement to do so from the President's 
first message, from the " peace meetings " held at the 
North, from some of the party conventions, and from por- 
tions of the Northern press. The President found at first 
no power in the Constitution to repress secession, or even 
hold by force the fortificatii^ns and public property in the 
seceding States. At one of the largest and most imposing 
of the " peace meetings," held in Philadelphia at the close 
of 1860, and called by the city government, the following 
resolutions were adopted : — 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 75 

" Resolved, That the people of Phihidelphia pledge themselves to 
the citizens of the other States, that the statute books of Pennsyl- 
vania shall be carefully searched at the approaching session of the 
Legislature, and that every statute, if any such there be, which in the 
slightest degree invades the constitutional rights of citizens of a 
sister State, will be at once repealed; and that Pennsylvania, ever 
loyal to the Union and liberal in construing her obligations to it, will 
be faithful always in her obedience to its requirements. 

^''Resolved, That we recognize the obligations of the Act of Con- 
gress of 1850, commonly known as the Fugitive Slave Law, and submit 
cheerfully to its faithful enforcement; and that we point with pride 
and satisfaction to the recent conviction and punishment iu this city 
of Philadelphia of those who had broken its provisions by aiding in 
the attempted rescue of a slave as proof that Philadelphia is faithful 
in her obedience to the law; and furthermore, we recommend to the 
Legislature of our own State, the passage of a law which shall give 
compensation, in case of the rescue of a captured slave, by the county 
in which such capture occurs, precisely as is now done by existing 
laws in case of destruction of property by violence of mobs. 

" Resolved, That as to the question of the recognition of slaves as 
property, and as to the question of the rights of slaveholders in the 
territories of the United States, the people of Philadelphia submit 
themselves obediently and cheerfully to the decisions of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, whether now made or hereafter to be 
made, and they pledge themselves faithfully to observe the Constitu- 
tion in these respects, as the same has been or may be expounded by 
that august tribunal. And further, they recommend that whatever 
points of doubt exist touching these subjects be, in some lawful and 
amicable way, forthwith submitted to the consideration of said court, 
and that its opinion be accepted as the final and authoritative solution 
of all doubts as to the meaning of the Constitution on controverted 
points. 

" Resolved, That all denunciations of slavery as existing in the 
United States, and of our fellow citizens who maintain that institu- 
tion, and who hold slaves under it, are inconsistent with the spirit of 
brotherhood and kindness which ought to animate all who live under 
and profess to support the Constitution of the American Union." 

It is hardly strange that the Secessionists should have 
thought Philadelphia approved of their course, and had 
more sympathy with them than with the anti-slavery senti- 
ment of the North in the struggle between freedom and 
slavery. And if, as has been said, General Lee never would 
have invaded Pennsylvania and been compelled to fight the 



76 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

battle of Gettysburg had he not expected to find sympathy 
enough there to effect some compromise and compel a 
peace, it were not surprising. 

Nor were the political peace conventions any wiser or 
more successful. As the former were too much influenced 
by business considerations, these paid too great regard, in 
what they said and did, to its effect upon their party. The 
most noticeable of these was the Democratic State Conven- 
tion, assembled in Tweddle Hall, Albany, the last day of 
January, 1861, remarkable for the number of its members 
who had been members of Congress, governors or candi- 
dates for that office, judges, an ex-chancellor, state officers 
and members of the Legislature. The object of the con- 
vention, as stated by its chairman, was the peaceful settle- 
ment of the questions which have led to disunion, and 
seemingly without much regard to the terms of settlement. 
" The people of this State demand the peaceful settlement 
of the questions that have led to disunion. They have a 
right to insist that there shall be conciliation, concession, 
compromise." What the difficulties were supposed to be 
in the way of such a settlement, and what concessions and 
compromises were recommended, are learned from the 
speakers who followed. Gov. Horatio Seymour seemed, 
like President Buchanan, to attribute secession mainly to 
the agitation of the subject of slavery at the North, and to 
well-nigh justify it on that ground, forgetful of the attempt 
of the South, with the aid of Northern partisans, to impose 
slavery upon Kansas by fraud, and to extend it by the 
Dred-Scott Decision and the Fugitive Slave Law, where by 
the Constitution and by solemn compacts it had been for- 
ever excluded. " The agitation of the question of slavery," 
he says, " has thus far brought greater social, moral, and 
legislative evils upon the people of the free States than it 
has upon the institutions of those against whom it has 
been excited. The wisdom of Franklin stamped upon the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 77 

first coin issued by the government, the wise motto, ' Mind 
your business.' The violation of this homely proverb, 
which lies at the foundation of the doctrines of local rights, 
has thus far proved more hurtful to the meddlers in the 
affairs of others, than to those against whom this pragmatic 
action is directed." He allows the government no power 
of coercion to prevent secession, and says that coercion, 
" if successfully used by the North, would be as revolu- 
tionary as successful secession by the South." He deems 
it an " act of folly and madness in entering upon this 
contest to underrate our opponents and thus subject our- 
selves to the- disgrace of defeat in an inglorious warfare." 
The only thing we can do in his estimation, is to compro- 
mise, and compromise upon any terms. " The question is 
simply this : Shall we have compromise after war, or com- 
promise without war?" There was one member of the 
convention, however, Judge Clinton, who insisted upon it 
that there was " no such thing as legal secession ;" that it 
was " rebellion," neither more nor less. And when inter- 
rupted by cries from the audience : " No ! No ! Revolution ! " 
he nobly replied: "It is rebellion ; rebellion against the 
noblest government that man ever framed for his own 
benefit and for the benefit of the world." And he went on 
to add : " I for one have venerated Andrew Jackson, and 
my blood boiled in old time when that brave patriot and 
soldier of democracy said : ' The Union, it must and shall 
be preserved.' Preserve it ! Preserve it ! Why should 
we preserve it, if it would be the thing that these gentle- 
men would make it? Why should we love a government 
that has no dignity and no power ? Admit the doctrine, 
and we have a government that no man who is a freeman 
ought to be content to live under. Admit it, and any State 
of its own sovereign will may retire from the Union. And 
when you would say we cannot use force to protect the 
property of the United States, to retain it in our possession, 



78 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

or to collect our revenue for the common benefit and the 
payment of the common debt, I am not prepared to thus 
humble the general government at the feet of the seceding 
States. I am unwilling to say to the government : ' You 
must abandon your property; you must cease to collect 
the revenues because you are threatened.'" Such was not 
the spirit of the convention, but the sentiment of tbeir 
resolutions was, that government had no right to use coer- 
cion to prevent secession ; that this could only be accom- 
plished by concessions and compromises, and that " it 
would be monstrous to refuse them," without any seeming 
regard to what they might be, even to the granting of the 
highest demands of the South for the extension and encour- 
agement of slavery. The influence of such a position of 
the Democratic party in that great and influential State at 
such a critical time was most encouraging to the seceding 
States, and equally discouraging to the incoming adminis- 
tration. It was a position which the State refused to hold 
and nobly redeemed her loyalty to the government. 

The most important convention of this kind, however, 
was the "peace convention " at Washington. It came 
together on the 4th of February, 1861, just a month before 
Mr. Lincoln's inauguration, and was dissolved only a few 
days before that event. It was composed of one hundred 
and thirty-three commissioners, and twenty-one of the States 
were represented. The seven States that had seceded were 
not represented, neither were Michigan, Wisconsin, Minne- 
sota, California nor Oregon. The conference was invited 
by the Legislature of Virginia, the invitation and plan of 
adjustment proposed by Virginia being telegraphed to the 
governors of the several States. It was composed of able 
men, many of whom were already eminent in public life 
and others who became so, and the governors and Legisla- 
tures had evidently appreciated the gravity of the crisis, 
and taken pains to be properly represented. Ex-Prcvsidcnt 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 79 

Tyler headed the Virginia delegation and presided over the 
convention. 

As the Legislature of Connecticut was not in session, 
Governor Buckingham had selected for this service Roger 
S. Baldwin, Chauncey F. Cleveland, Charles J. McCurdy, 
James T. Pratt, Robbins Battell and Amos S. Treat. Two 
of them, ex-Governor Cleveland and General Pratt, had 
been leading members of the Democratic party, and Judge 
McCurdy was Chief Justice of the State, while Roger Sher- 
man Baldwin had shown himself in Congress and elsewhere 
worthy of the historic name he bore. The important part 
which these last two members bore in this convention we 
shall have occasion to speak of presently. The following 
brief but suggestive letter of instructions was addressed to 
them by Governor Buckingham : — 

Gov. R. S. Baldwin, Chaibman of the Convention Committke, 

Washington : 

Dear Sir: — I would not embarrass the action of yourself an4 
associates by any instructions as to your duty as members of the 
convention. You fitly represent the love for the Union which beats 
50 fully in the hearts of the people of this Commonwealth, and with 
them earnestly desire to reconcile those differences which have alien- 
ated the different sections of our nation, disturbed its peace, and 
which now threaten us with all the evils of revolution and civil war. 

I have entire confidence that you will look at any questions which 
may be presented either by yourselves or others for the consideration 
of the convention, in the spirit of true patriotism, that you will make 
any concessions that will restore harmony and avert the evils which 
threaten us which are not inconsistent with principles vital to a free 
government and the prosperity of the whole people. 

At the same time I would suggest as of primary importance that 
you have special regard to the measures which tend to maintain the 
dignity and authority of the govei'nment, so that any citizen shall 
feel that it is, and is to be, a shield to protect him in every proper 
and lawful pursuit, as well as in his property and in his person ; also 
that no sanction shall be given to measures which shall bind the 
government to new guarantees for the protection of property in men, 
a principle subversive of a free government. 

I am, dear sir, with sentiments of high consideration, your obe- 
dient servant, W. A. BUCKINGHAM. 



80 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

This forecast of what would be the unyielding demand of 
the South, new guarantees for slavery, before they would 
consent to any adjustment of difficulties, and the just judg- 
ment which decided that any such arrangement would only 
convert our free republic into one slave empire and make 
our ruin sure, characterizes these instructions. It was this 
view of the subject, confirmed by the subsequent action of 
that convention, which led Governor Bucisingham soon 
after, when President Lincoln made his first call for 75,000 
troops, to write him that if he had appreciated the spirit 
and resources of the South, he would have called for many 
more if he expected to put down that rebellion. 

The proceedings of the peace convention were conducted 
in secret, but the injunction of secrecy was removed at the 
close of the sessions, and Mr. Chittenden, one of the dele- 
gates from Vermont, published a full and trustworthy 
report of its discussions and doings, making a volume of 
six hundred pages, full of information and interest to those 
who would understand the position and disposition of the 
North and the South when the war broke out. Virginia, in 
her invitation to the other States to come together for such 
a conference, urged it in the interests of peace and to prevent 
war, and laid down the terms upon which, and upon which 
alone, the South would agree to adjust their differences 
with the North. Nor from these did she, or the other South- 
ern States represented, ever recede. They demanded new 
guarantees for slavery. Defeated at the polls by the elec- 
tion of Mr. Lincoln, and in their struggle over the Missouri 
Compromise, the Dred-Scott Decision, the Fugitive Slave 
Law, and the admission of Kansas as a slave State ; defeated 
in Congress by the rejection of President Buchanan's pro- 
slavery policy, and the House of Representatives having 
become Republican, though the Senate, whose members 
were elected for a longer term of office, was still disposed 
to acquiesce in that policy ; — the following seven States had 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 81 

withdrawn from the Union, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida and Texas. The 
remaining seven slave States were represented in the con- 
vention : — Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri. These, instead of 
accepting peaceably the results of a fair election and the 
change in the public sentiment of the country upon the 
slavery issues, still demanded new concessions to slavery. 
And it is sad to think that so many of the free States in 
that convention, and some of the largest and most influen- 
tial of them, should have been misled by their desire for 
peace to accede to such unreasonable demands, when the 
States making such demands would neither promise if they 
were granted not to secede themselves, nor to support the 
government in maintaining the Union, or in collecting its 
revenue and holding its forts and navy yards. The issue 
was distinctly made that without such pledges, and new 
protection and encouragement given to the institution of 
slavery, such as was not found in the Constitution or in any 
of the ordinances and solemn compacts made originally 
between the slave and the free States, there must be a per- 
manent breaking up of the Union, and if any resistance 
was made to this there certainly would be civil war. Such 
was the attitude in which the free States and the slave 
States delegates found themselves towards each other. 

The mode in which these guarantees were to be given, as 
proposed by Virginia and not essentially changed by the 
convention, was in the form of an additional amendment 
to the Constitution, composed of seven sections. The first 
section restores the " Missouri Compromise," which had 
been repealed ; or again prohibits slavery north of 36° 30' 
and allows it south of that parallel. This would seem a 
generous concession to the North were it not that all the 
territory south of that line had been already organized into 
slave States, and the Southern delegates refused to make it 



82 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

applicable to any future territory, when they had just been 
urgino- the purchase of Cuba, the setting up of a protect- 
orate in Mexico and holding territory there to satisfy what- 
ever claims we might make upon that government, and 
when, too, the South was already dreaming of eventually 
annexing all South America. 

The fifth section forever prohibits the " foreign slave 
trade," the disinterestedness of which might well be ques- 
tioned, since this trade would come into competition with 
the domestic slave trade, of which Virginia held the 
monopoly.* 

The fourth and seventh sections provide for the arrest 
and delivery of " fugitive slaves," or for payment from the 
national treasury for all such whose recapture is prevented 
by violence. At the same time the Southern delegates 
refused to have slaves thus paid for emancipated. And 
they also refused to let the government compensate citizens 
of the free States for what they should suffer in person or 
property by violence or intimidation in the slave States. 

The third section takes away from Congress all power to 
abolish or interfere with slavery in the District of Columbia, 
except upon almost impossible conditions ; or to abolish or 
interfere with slavery where the general government has 
exclusive control, as in its forts and navy yards; or to pre- 
vent the bringing, keeping, and taking away of slaves from 
the District of Columbia, though it does forbid slave depots 
and the slave trade being carried on there. As if the gen- 



* Afterwards, when the Confederate government was organized, this was used as 
an inducement and a tlireat to bring Virginia into the Confederacy. She was to liave 
tlie chief benefit of such trade, and be deprived of it altogetlier if she refused. 
These two articles were put into tlie Constitution : " The importation of African 
negi'oes from any foreign country otlier than tlie slaveholding States is hereby for- 
bidden, and Congress is required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the 
same ; " also, "• Congress shall liave power to prohibit the introduction of slaves 
from any State not a member of this Confederacy." This, and the removal of the 
Confederate capital from Montgomery, Ala., to Kichmond, evidently had their 
iiifluence. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 83 

€ral government might not properly legislate in favor of 
freedom, where it has supreme control, just as the States 
may within their own territory, whenever the welfare or 
the moral sentiment of the nation shall demand it ! 

The second section provides that no further acquisition 
of territory shall be made without the consent of a majority 
of all the senators from the slaveholding States and a 
majority of all the senators from the free States, when the 
acquisition of the Louisiana territory, Florida, and Texas 
had been effected without any such majority. 

The sixth section, the most important of these changes 
in the Constitution, requires that this provision " shall not 
be amended or abolished without the consent of all the 
States," a provision not required for the adoption of the 
original Constitution, nor demanded at any time for the 
preservation of freedom, but now for the first time insisted 
upon to fasten slavery irremovably upon our republic, where 
from the beginning it had been hoped and expected that 
the time would come when the slave States would be glad 
to rid themselves of the system, and, if a majority should 
desire it, this would remove it forever. 

But the most astonishing and seemingly adroit proposi- 
tion of Virginia was to change by a constitutional provision 
the very nature of the common law — the protection of 
freedom, and under which some of our Northern States 
had freed their slaves — and make it the defence of slavery, 
which no future legislation could change. Judge McCurdy 
of the Connecticut delegation, a former Chief Justice of 
that State, put this matter in a strong light, as follows : — 

I believe under this article the institution of slavery is to be pro- 
tected by a most ingenious contrivance — the common law, adminis- 
tered according to the pro-slavery view, is to be called in for its 
protection. The common lavp, as we understand it, is the law of 
freedom, not of slavery. By the common law a slave is a man still, 
a person, and not a personal chattel. He may owe service, as a child 
to a parent, an apprentice to his master, but he is still a person owing 



84 WILLIAM A. HL'CKLNiiHA.M. 

service. He is all the time recognized as a man. As such he may 
own and hold property, take it by inheritance and dispose of it at 
pleasure, by will or by contract. AH these rights, all the principles 
upon which they are founded, are in direct antagonism to slavery. 
Hy the slave law all this is reversed. The m:vster owns the body of 
the slave, may sell or otherwise dispose of him, or make him the sub- 
ject of inheritance. The slave loses all the attributes of a person as 
much as the horse or the ox that feeds at his master's crib. These, 
in a condition of slavery, are the rights of the master over the slave. 
These rights the common law, under this proposition, is to recognize, 
protect and enforce. I believe I am not mistaken in this. What 
other construction can you give the article ? It is a distinct proposal 
to engraft slavery upon the common law; to declare in the Constitu- 
t on that slavery is recognized and protected by the common law. 
Now the North has always protested against this. She will not con- 
sent to it. For then slavery goes wherever the common law goes. It 
makes slavery national ; freedom sectional. This now kind of common 
law is to be substituted for the old. The latter has been understooil 
for centuries almost: its principles have been discussed and settled. 
It is a system founded by experience and adapted to the wants of the 
people subject to it. Its very name implies that it was not created 
by legislative authority. A. strange common law that would be which 
is created by the Constitution. — [Proceedimjs of the Peace Conren- 
tion, p. 159. 

The '" common law," as generally understood, means the 
natural principles of justice upon which laws should be 
made and administered. They may violate these principles. 
as slavery does, and may make that system leiral. but not 
according to natural justice and common law. As used in 
our courts of justice, it refers to those unwritten principles 
of English law which we have adopted in this country, as a 
part of our system of jurisprudence. According to this 
common law, therefore, slavery is an unnatural andunjiisti- 
liable condition, which can only be made legal by positive 
statute, and where there is no such statute, as in our free 
States and in Great Britain, slaves became free, of course. 
On this point, Lord Manstield's famous decision in the 
Somerset case in England, and the decisions of the English 
courts, that it was not a crime for a slave when captured 
to kill his master, were always quoted in our courts as of 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 85 

highest authority. And upon this principle and with such 
authority, the last of the slaves in some of our Northern 
States had been set free, without any legislation upon the 
subject. So that the common law has come to be under- 
stood as the law of freedom, and now it was to be made to 
justify and enforce slavery. Here is where Judge McCurdy, 
who was the Chief Justice of Connecticut, and whose au- 
thority on such subjects entitled his opinions to respect, did 
good service in calling attention to this subject, and suc- 
ceeded, though only by the vote of a single State in the 
convention, in having this proposition defeated. Judge 
McCurdy also detected, as he thought, another provision in 
those Virginia articles, by which the African slave trade 
might have been carried on from the port of New York. 
And by an amendment, which was adopted by a majority 
of only a single State, such a possibility was defeated. " I 
wish," he said, " to prohibit any transactions concerning 
the purchase or sale of slaves, cither within the free States, 
or the navigable waters connected therewith, or under free 
State jurisdiction. If there were no such prohibition, a 
cargo of slaves might be brought from the coast of Africa 
into the port of New York, and transferred there to parties 
residing in the slave States. The free States have a right 
to direct what shall, and what shall not, be a subject of 
commerce within their limits. I presume it is not intended 
that the Constitution shall prohibit the exercise of this 
right. I desire not to leave this open to construction, but 
to make the section declare that no such intention exists." 
Such were the concessions required of the North and 
these the " guarantees " demanded for slavery, and the 
demand backed up by menace. Mr. Morrill of Maine put 
the matter in this form to Mr. Seddon, the leading member 
of the Virginia delegation : " I wish to ask the gentleman 
from V^irginia a plain question, and T wish, to receive a 
frank answer. If this conference ajz;rees to the amend- 



86 WILLIAM A. ijuckin(;ham. 

ments proposed by the majority ol: the committee, will Vir- 
ginia sustain the government and maintain its integrity 
while the people are considering and acting on the new 
proposals of amendment to the Constitution ? " To this he 
answered : " I can let Virginia speak for herself. She has 
spoken for herself in most emphatic language. She has- 
told you what will satisfy her, in the resolutions under 
which this body is convened. I have no right whatever to 
suppose that she will accept less. She is solemnly pledged 
to resist coercion." He had previously said, " Virginia will 
not permit coercion." Mr. Morrill replied : " I thought I 
did not misunderstand the position of Virginia. She is 
armed to the teeth, and she now proposes to step between 
the government and the States. I understand her attitude. 
It is an attitude of menace. It gives aid and comfort to 
those who trample upon the laws and defy the authority of 
this government." 

And the venerable and recognized scholar in the Depart- 
ment of Government, David Dudley Field of New York, 
who codified the civil and criminal laws of that State, and 
whose improved system has been adopted by so many other 
States, said : " I would sacrifice all I have, lay down my 
life for the Union, but I will not give these guarantees to 
slavery. If the Union cannot be preserved without them, 
it cannot long be preserved with them. Let me ask you if 
you will recommend to the people of the Southern States, 
in case these guarantees are conceded, to accept them and 
abide by their obligations to the Union. You answer, 
'Yes.' Do you suppose you can induce the seceded States 
to return ? You answer, ' We do not know ! ' What 
will you yourselves do if, after all, they refuse ? Your 
answer is, ' We will go with them.' We are to understand, 
then, that this is the language of the slave States, which 
have not seceded, toward the free States : ' If you will 
support our amendments, we will try to induce the seceded 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 87 

States to return to the Union. We rather think we can 
induce them to return ; but if we cannot, then we will go 
with them.' What is to be done by the government of the 
United States while you are trying this experiment ? The 
seceded States are organizing a government with all its 
departments. They are levying taxes, raising military 
forces, and engaging in commerce with foreign nations, in 
plain violation of the provisions of the Constitution. If 
this condition of afl^airs lasts six months longer. Prance 
and England will recognize theirs as a government de facto. 
Do you suppose that we will submit to this ; that we can 
submit to it ? I speak only for myself. I undertake to 
commit no one but myself ; but here I assert that an admin- 
istration which fails to assert by force its authority over 
the whole country will be a disgrace to the nation. There 
is no middle ground ; we must keep the country unbroken^ 
or we give it up to ruin ! We are told that one State has 
an hundred thousand men ready for the field, and that if 
we do not assent to these propositions she will fight us. If 
I believed this to be true, I would not consent to treat on 
any terms." 

It should be said in this connection that, considering the 
irritated and critical condition of the country, the proceed- 
ingrf of this convention were characterized by remarkable 
self-control and courtesy on both sides. The proceedings 
of the convention were private, but the publication of them 
was authorized at the close, so that no one need misunder- 
stand what was the object of that convention and of Virginia, 
who originated it. She laid down the conditions upon 
which alone secession could be prevented, to which she 
would never pledge herself to abide, and which were 
that slavery was to be protected everywhere and in every 
way ; to have all the rights in the free States that it had in 
the slave States ; to change the Constitution so as to have 
it recognized there, whence it had been so carefully excluded ; 



88 WILLIAM A. BUCKINCxHAM. 

that Virt]:;inia should have the inonof>oly of the slave trade, 
and even be at liberty to carry it on through Northern 
ports; and that it should be rendered virtually impossible 
to make any changes in favor of freedom, so long as a 
single State should object. Such were the propositions 
which the South made in the interests of peace and to pre- 
vent secession and civil war, and even then she would not 
engage to abide by them, if the North would. That decided 
the position of the North, as well it might. Henceforth 
there could be no further compromises and guarantees to 
slavery. And though the interests of trade and of politics 
led many to expect relief from this quarter even to the last, 
the abandonment of such hope, and the determination to 
maintain the Union and support our republic, led us to put 
down secession and crush out slavery with it, to the general 
satisfaction of the whole country. 

Ex-Governor Baldwin of Connecticut, who was the repre- 
sentative of this State on the committee to whom the reso- 
lutions of Virginia and her proposed amendments to the 
Constitution were referred, made a minority report recom- 
mending a general convention, as proposed by Kentucky. 
He argued that the Constitution provided cnly two modes 
for its own amendment — one by Congress, whenever two- 
thirds of both Houses shall deem such amendment neces- 
saiT, and the other, by the same body, upon the application 
of two-thirds of the States calling a convention to ])roposo 
amendments — neither of which conditions were complied 
with in this convention. All the States were not repre- 
sented, not even all who might wish to be represented. 
Then the delegates did not equally represent their States, 
for while some of them were chosen by their Legislatures, 
others were only the appointments of their governors. 
There was also too little time for the transaction of such 
important business. Congress must adjourn in fifteen or 
sixteen days, and the convention must have time to consider 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 89 

and agree upon the amendments to be proposed to Con- 
gress, and there must be time for them to consider and 
agree upon them also before adjournment. Besides, this 
organization of a government, or the reorganization of one, 
is such a delicate and responsible work that it was intended 
it should not be done rashly, and so the Constitution had 
prescribed only these two slow and complicated modes of 
doing it. And here he referred to Washington's farewell 
address, in which he warns the nation against any rash and 
unauthorized change of the Constitution, saying: "If in 
the opinion of the people the distribution or modification 
of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let 
it be corrected in the way which the Constitution designates. 
But let there be no change by usurj)ation, for though this in 
one instance may be instrumental of good, it is the custom- 
ary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The 
precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent 
evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at 
any time yield." After referring also to the preamble of 
the Constitution, as showing that the first great purpose of 
that instrument was " to form a more perfect Union," he 
quoted with peculiar significancy at that juncture, that 
other declaration of Washington's: "All obstructions to 
the execution of the laws, all combinations and associa- 
tions, under whatever plausible character, with the real 
design to direct, control, counteract or awe the regular 
deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are 
destructive to this fundamental rule, and of fatal tendency." 
This counsel of that "illustrious American, I will not say 
Virginian, for Washington belonged to his whole country," 
he commended as worthy to be cherished in the heart of 
every patriot. Governor Baldwin's character, ability and 
broad treatment of the subject commanded the high respect 
of the convention, though it could hardly have been expected 
to control so many bent on securing greater privileges for 



90 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

slavery, and so many others anxious to maintain the ascend- 
ency of their party by concessions to the South. Still he 
was sustained in his position by all the Connecticut delega- 
tion save one, and by the approval of Governor Bucking- 
ham, as his report to the governor and the governor's reply 
show : — 

New Havkn, March 4, ISGl. 

Sir: — lu behalf of the Commissioners appointed by your Excellency 
to attend the Conference Convention at Washington on the invitation of 
the Legislature of Virginia, I have to report, that the convention 
having assembled on the 4th of February continued its sessions until 
the 27th of that month, when after the adoption of certain resolutions 
proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States, in 
which a majority of the States represented concurred, it adjourned 
without day. 

The intercourse of its members during the entire session of the 
convention, was characterized by a pervading spirit of courtesy and 
conciliation, as well as of loyalty to the Union. It soon became apparent, 
however, that the Commissioners from some of the border States, in 
their anxiety to bring back to their allegiance that portion of the 
people of the United States who are now in rebellion against the 
government, and to prevent the further contagion of their example, 
would expect from us concessions inconsistent alike with the opinion* 
expressed by your Excellency, the resolutions of the General Assembly 
in which all political parties have concurred, and our own sense of 
duty. 

Under these circumstances, and in view as well of the fact that only 
a portion of the States were represented in the convention, as of the 
grave doubts that existed in regard to the propriety of any other course, 
the Connecticut Commissioners, with but one exception, were desirous 
that the convention should avail itself of the movement already indi- 
cated by Kentucky, and recommended to the States to apply to Con- 
gress to call a general convention in accordance with 5th article of 
the Constitution. 

A resolution for that purpose was offered as a substitute for specific 
amendments to the Constitution which had been prepared and 
reported to the convention by a majority of the committee, to whose 
consideration the different plans of adjustment had been submitted; — 
after a long discussion the substitute reported by the undersigned, 
(of which with the accompanying remarks in its support a printed 
copy was yesterday transmitted to your Excellency) was lost by a vote 
of eight States in its favor to eleven States against its acceptance. 

As the amendments recommended by the convention have been 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 91 

made public by their presentation to Congress, it is unnecessary that 
I should more particularly refer to them in this communication. 

The journal of the convention has not yet been completed, though 
a committee was appointed to superintend its publication. I shall 
transmit to your Excellency a copy when received, which will more 
particularly indicate the course of proceedings and the action of the 
Connecticut Commissioners in the various propositions submitted to 
the consideration of the convention. 

I have the honor to be, sir, with great consideration and respect, 
your Excellency's obedient servant, 

Roger S. Baldwin. 

His Excellency William A. Buckingham, Norwich. 

To the above the following reply was returned : — 

t State of Connecticut, Executive Department. 
( Norwich, March 8, 1861. 

Sir: — Your favor of the 4th inst. was duly received, by which you 
report the action of the Connecticut Commissioners on measures 
presented to their consideration before the Confei'ence Convention 
recently held in Washington on the invitation of the Legislature of 
Virginia. 

In reply I would assure the commissioners that the course pursued 
by them to harmonize conflicting interests and adjust those questions 
which ai-e alienating the people from each other, and from the general 
government, upon a just and permanent basis, and especially their 
efforts to secure the call of a general convention for the purpose of 
considering amendments to that instrument, meets the cordial approval 
of this department. 

I am, dear sir, yours with high consideration, 

William A. Buckingham. 
Gov, Roger S. Baldwin, Chairman of Connecticut Commissioners. 

It only remains to be stated that the measures proposed 
by this peace convention when presented to the United 
States Senate found little favor there. Indeed, the severest 
criticism they received was from the Virginia senators, 
Messrs. Mason and Hunter, and upon the point most objected 
to by Judge McCurdy and the Connecticut delegation. 
They feared to attempt to put slavery under the protection 
of the " common law," and frankly admitted that it would 
make their position a worse one than under the Dred-Scott 
Decision of the Supreme Court. These propositions, we 



92 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

believe, never reached the House of Representatives, which 
were still less likely to consider them favorably, or if they 
did, they were left to sleep there forever by the new admin- 
istration, and amid the anxieties of actual war, which 
neither these nor any other possible adjustment at that 
time could have prevented. All those peace measures at 
the time were simply mischievous. They only made the 
North put off preparations for a struggle that must come 
if the government was not to be overthrown. And they 
misled the South, and made her believe that the North, 
rather than lose her trade, and that the party in power, 
rather than lose her political support, would consent to any 
concessions and compromises, even the unlimited extension 
of slavery. It is hardly to be supposed that General Lee 
would ever have invaded Pennsylvania and fought the deci- 
sive battle of the war there, leaving the bulk of the Union 
army in his rear, had he not supposed that the South had 
too many political friends and business friends at the North 
to allow such a war to be carried on any longer. It was 
unfortunate for our cause that from the first, and so far 
into the war, so much of the commercial spirit, and of 
party spirit in politics, had been manifested at the North. 
All such considerations were early lost sight of at the 
South. It was certainly to be regretted that in the peace 
convention the two great States of Pennsylvania and .New 
York were so divided in their delegations, and these States 
so often carried for the extreme demands of the South, 
though they were soon staunch enough and patriotic enough 
in support of the government. It is certainly to the credit 
of Connecticut that from the first she discerned the true 
issue, and that her delegation, her Legislature, and her 
governor were one in their determination to meet the crisis 
whatever it might be. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Mr. Lincoln Inaugurated. 

His Speeches on the Journey to Washington, and the Light they 
Tlirow on His Character — The Plot to Kill Him on the Way — Tlie 
Inauguration — Mr. Buchanan's Chai^acter. 

Sucli was the state of things when President Buchanan's 
administration was ending, and Mr. Lincohi was about to 
be inaugurated. Although there was so much disloyalty at 
the national capital, and such vindictive feeling in the 
border slave States — though none of them as yet had 
seceded — it was hardly to be believed that any forcible 
resistance would be made to Mr. Lincoln's inauguration. 
To be sure it has been discovered since, that when Mr. 
Fremont was a candidate for the presidency, a plot was 
laid, had he been elected, to have Virginia seize the arms 
at Harper's Ferry and take possession of Washington, and 
prevent his ever entering upon that office. Still, as the time 
approached, rumors thickened, and trustworthy information 
showed that such an attempt would be made now. Marshal 
Kennedy of New York, though born in a slave State, was a 
true man, who, before the war broke out, had his suspicions 
aroused by the purchase of so many arms for the South 
that he finally seized them and refused to give them up in 
spite of threats. He sent two sets of detectives to Balti- 
more, and finally went there himself, where he was at home 
and well acquainted with Marshal Kane, who frankly told 
him that Mr. Lincoln was not to be allowed to pass through 
the city, and how it was to be prevented. Only twelve 
men were to be put on guard for his protection there, when he 
should pass through the city, while 1,400 were to be detailed 



94 WILLIAM A. IJUCKLNCiHAM. 

for that duty in New York. Mr. Felton, president of one 
of the railroads from Philadelphia to Baltimore, was also so 
impressed by the danger, that he employed Pinkerton and 
his detectives to find out the truth of the matter, which was 
reported to be this : That there were military organizations 
drilling along the road, pretending to be Union men, and 
offering their services to guard the road, but purposing to 
"burn the bridges, break up the road, and murder Mr. 
Lincoln on his way to Washington, if it turned out that he 
went there before troops were called out ; but if the troops 
were first called out, then the bridges were to be destroyed, 
and Washington cut off and taken possession of by the 
South." General Scott also shared in these anxieties, so 
that he gathered in Washington, for the occasion, the few 
companies of United States troops at his command, and 
called out the volunteer companies of cavalry and riflemen 
of the district ; the former to guard Mr. Lincoln's carriage, 
and the latter to be posted where they could watch the 
windows from which he might be fired upon as he passed ; 
and when the time came he put himself personally in com- 
mand, so that when asked why he " was not on the east 
j>ortico to grace the ceremonial," replied that he " was 
where he belonged at such a time of danger." All this has 
been fully and carefully confirmed, as well as graphically 
narrated in its particulars in the late " History of Mr. 
Lincoln " by Messrs. Nicolay and Hay. The existence of 
such plots was proved at the time, so far as it could be 
proved by circumstantial evidence, while they were soon 
confirmed by the burning of the bridges and tearing up of 
the railroads at Baltimore, and all proved too true in the 
subsequent barbarities of the war and the final assassination 
of Mr. Lincoln. 

The manner in which Mr. Lincoln reached Washington, 
is an oft-told and thrilling story, but it sheds such light on 
the state of the times, and upon the character of this new 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 95 

and comparatively unknown man, to whom such great 
interests were to be entrusted at such a critical time, that 
it must be referred to. Mr, Lincoln, his family and suit, 
left his home in Springfield, 111., for Washington, the 11th 
of February, to be a fortnight on their journey, and arrive 
there some ten days before the inauguration. He had 
received many invitations from governors and State legisla- 
tures, mayors and city governments, committees of towns 
and associations, tendering receptions without party dis- 
tinction, and while obliged to decline many of them, like 
that from Massachusetts, for lack of time, he did visit the 
capitals of Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania, besides Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburg, 
Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia. At the capitals he 
was received by the legislatures, and replied to their 
addresses. In the large cities, like New York, the com- 
mercial capital of the country, and Philadelphia with its 
Independence hall, he was impressed by the great interests 
about to be committed to his charge, and stirred by motives 
that had inspired others to great achievements who were as 
human as himself. In his addresses he had a hard task 
before him, especially for one who was characterized by 
frankness, and trained to logical argument rather than to 
felicitous and complimentary speech. He must address 
those who were politically opposed to him and had voted 
against him, as well as those of his own party. On the 
borders of a slave State, as at Cincinnati, he must speak to 
those who were born in the midst of slavery, and had sym- 
pathy with those who upheld it, while they bitterly hated 
such as were trying to extend the system. And then, 
under the circumstances, he was not at liberty to announce 
fully what his own policy and that of his administration was 
to be, which all the country was chiefly anxious to find 
out. He must listen till the last moment to every sugges- 
tion and criticism of both friends and foes, and then in his 



96 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

inaugural announce to an anxious world the principles 
and policy to which he and his administration were to be 
pledged. Sometimes he expressed little more than thanks 
for the courtesies shown him, and shown not to him per- 
sonally, but as chosen to represent and carry out the will 
of the people in the administration of the government. 
Sometimes, as at Indianapolis, he did little else than ques- 
tion his audience as to the meaning of " coercion " and 
"invasion," and when they might be justifiable, and closed 
saying : '' Fellow citizens, I am not asserting anything, I 
am merely asking questions for you to consider." At 
another time, in Cincinnati, he expressed his kind feelings 
towards the people of Kentucky, who must have been well 
represented, both as citizens and as visitors, and hoped that 
"for centuries to come there might be seen, once every four 
years, what they saw,the people, without distinction of party, 
giving such a reception to the constitutionally elected Presi- 
dent of the whole United States." He told them, in answer 
to the question which they would be asking: "How they 
were to be treated," " We mean to treat you as near as we 
possibly can, as Washington, and Jefferson, and Madison 
treated you. We mean to recognize and bear in mind 
always that you have as good hearts in your bosoms as other 
people, and as good as we claim to have, and treat you 
accordingly." And then touched with the remembrance 
that this was his native State, he closes with this appeal to 
them : " Fellow citizens of Kentucky, friends, brethren : 
May 1 call you such? In my new position I see no occasion 
and feel no inclination to retract a word of this. If it shall 
not be made good, be assured that the fault shall not be 
mine." At the capital of New Jersey, in addressing the 
Legislature, he said : " I learn that this b'ody is composed 
of a majority of gentlemen who, in the exercise of their best 
judgment in the choice of a chief magistrate, did not think 
that I was the man. 1 understand, nevertheless, that they 



WKLIAM A. BUfKrNGHAM. 



97 



caine forward to greet me as the constitutionally elected 
President of the United States ; as citizens of the United 
States, to meet the man who for the time being is the repre- 
sentative of the majority of the nation ; united by the single 
purpose to perpetuate the Constitution, the Union, and the 
liberties of the people. As such 1 accept this reception 
more gratefully than I could do did I believe it were ten- 
dered to me as an individual." And here he added : " I 
shall do all that may be in my power to promote a peaceful 
settlement of all our difficulties. The man does not live 
who is more devoted to peace than I am, none who would 
do more to preserve it; but it may be necessary to put the 
foot down firmly. [Here the audience broke into cheers so 
loud and long, that for some moments it was impossible to 
hear Mr. Lincoln's voice.] And if I do my duty and do 
right, you will sustain me, will you not?" In his last 
speech in Independence hall, Philadelphia, after expressing 
the emotions excited by " the wisdom, patriotism, and 
devotion to principle" once gathered there, and "the senti- 
ments embodied in that Declaration of Independence which 
gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but 
hope to all the world, for all future time," he gave utter- 
ance to a thought and a sentiment which the audience could 
not understand at the time, but which received its fearful 
meaning to all of us afterwards, when it became known 
what communications he had received the night before. It 
was there, and in that connection, speaking of the Declara- 
tion of Independence as giving equal rights to all, that he 
said : " If this country cannot be saved without giving up 
that principle, I was about to say I would rather be assas- 
sinated on the spot than surrender it." 

The day before, Mr. Felton, the railroad president, at 
Baltimore, Mr. Pinkerton, the head of the detectives 
employed there, and Mr. Judd of Chicago, one of Mr. Lin- 
coln's personal and political friends, had all arrived in Phila- 



98 WILLIAM A. BUCKlN(iHAM. 

delphia to consult with him as to his danger. What had 
been rumors before, had now been confirmed by enough 
circumstantial evidence to put him and his friends on their 
guard. The plot was to burn the bridges, destroy the 
railroad, and murder Mr. Lincoln. The evening, and a con- 
siderable part of the night, had been spent in considering 
the matter before they retired. And the morning had 
hardly dawned, when Mr. Lincoln was roused from sleep by 
one at the door demanding admittance, which was reluc- 
tantly granted, until it proved to be Mr. Frederick W. 
Seward, whom his father had sent with the following 

letter : — 

[Secketary Seward to Tresident Lixcolx.] 

Washington, February 21, 1861. 
My Dear Sir: — My son goes express to you. He will show you a 
report made by our detective to General Scott, and by him communi- 
cated to me this morning. I deem it so imiwrtant that I dispatch my 
son to meet you wherever he may find you. I concur with General 
Scott in thinking it best for you to reconsider your arrangements. 
No one here but General Scott and myself and the bearer is aware of 
this communication. I should have gone with it myself, but for the 
peculiar sensitiveness about my attendance at the Senate at this crisis. 
Very truly yours, 

WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 

He brought with him the following communications made 
to his father by General Scott through his aid, Colonel 

Stone : — 

[General Scott to Mr. Seward.] 

February 21, 1861. 
My Dear Sir: — Please receive my friend, Colonel Stone, chief of 
General Wightman's staff, and a distinguished young officer with me 
in Mexico. He has an important communication to make. 
Yours truly, 

WINFIELD SCOTT. 

[Colonel Stone's Report.] 

February 21, 1861. 
A New York detective officer who has been on duty in Baltimore 
for three weeks reports this morning that there is serious danger of 
violence to, and the assassination of Mr. Lincoln in his passage 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 99 

through that city, should the time of that passage be knowr. He 
states that there are banded rowdies holding secret meetings, and 
that he has heard threats of mobbing and violence, and has him- 
self heard men declare that if Mr. liincoln was to be assassinated 
they would like to be the men. He states further that it is onlj^ 
within the past few days that he has considered that there was any 
danger, but now he deems it imminent. He deems clie danger 
one which the authorities and people in Baltimore cannot guard 
against. All risk might easily be avoided by a change in the travel- 
ing arrangements which would bring Mr. Lincoln and a por- 
tion of his party through Baltimore by a night train without pre- 
vious notice. 

No one of ordinary wisdom with such information before 
him, would have been justified in not guarding against 
the danger whatever others without that information might 
think of it. So Mr. Lincoln and his friends decided to 
change their plans. The original plan was, that after Mr. 
Lincoln's address at Philadelphia, in Independence hall, he 
should go the same day, Friday the 22d of February, 
Washington's birthday, to Harrisburg to meet the assem- 
bled Legislature of Pennsylvania, and remaining over 
night, go from there the next morning to Washington, 
passing through Baltimore at noon. Mr. Judd and Mr. 
Piniierton had called to their aid Mr. Franciscus, the 
general manager of the Pennsylvania railroad, and Mr. 
Henry Sanford, representing Colonel E. S. Sanford, presi- 
dent of the American Telegraph Company. It was de- 
cided that Mr. Lincoln and a single companion should 
go, on that night, by the way of Philadelphia. So in the 
evening, Mr. Lincoln was called from the table, went 
to his room, changed his dinner dress for a traveling suit, 
and came down with his shawl on his arm, and a soft hat 
sticking out of his pocket, which was all the " Scotch plaid 
cap, and long military cloak " he assumed for diguise. A. 
carriage drew up at the side door of the hotel, into which 
he stepped with his single escort. Colonel Lamon, a devoted 
personal friend from Illinois, " young, active, and almost of 



100 WILLIAM A. BUCK I N(; HAM. 

herculean frame and strength," and they were driven rapidly 
to the depot, where a special train of a haggage car and 
a single passenger car awaited them. The track between 
the two cities was to be kept clear of everything, and the 
eleven o'clock Baltimore train was to be detained for them. 
Mr. Felton was there to see that this was done, while Mr. 
Pinkerton had a carriage ready to convey them through 
Philadelphia from one depot to the other, and Mr. Sanford 
saw that the telegraph wires were disconnected that no 
intelligence of their departure could be given in advance 
of them. " So at midnight they took their berths in the 
sleeping car of the regular train from New York, passing 
through Baltimore unrecognized and undisturbed, and 
arriving in Washington at six o'clock in the morning of 
February 23. Here they were met by Mr. Seward and 
Mr. Washburn, member of Congress from Illinois, and con- 
ducted to Willard's Hotel. The family and the suite made 
the journey direct from Harrisburg to Baltimore, according 
to the previously published program, arriving in Washington 
late that evening." It was at once telegraphed to Balti- 
more that Mr. Lincoln had already reached Washington, so 
that all motive to harm his family and friends was taken 
away and they passed through undisturbed. 

Mr. Lincoln now had a single week in which to confer with 
his friends, and learn the opinions and spirit of his oppo- 
nents, and receive the criticisms of his proposed policy from 
everybody, which he particularly courted. In this respect 
nobody was so free as Mr. Seward, who was to hold the 
most responsible position in his cabinet, in his suggestions 
and recommendations as to the inaugural address. It is 
full of interest and instruction to read the omissions, and 
modifications, and additions he proposed, and see what were 
accepted, and what rejected, as showing the peculiar char- 
acteristics of the men, and the special lines of policy which 
each preferred. Never had a man such a difficult task in 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 101 

statesmanship before him, as Mr. Lincoln. No wonder he 
felt, as he so often expressed it in his addresses, that he was 
*'a very humble instrument" in the hands of God and of 
the nation, that he was called to "a task which did not rest 
even upon the Father of his Country, and so feeling I can- 
not but turn and look for that support without which it will 
be impossible for rae to perform that great task, and turn 
then and look to the American people, and to that God who 
has never forsaken them." This trust in God, and con- 
fidence in the people, which he always expressed, and we 
soon found was so sincere, was the ground of that confidence 
which the nation soon came to repose in him, and caused 
them to accept his guidance and carry out his measures in 
the darkest periods of the war. Those simple and pathetic 
words which he addressed to his neighbors, as he left' them 
to assume the duties of president at such a critical time, 
will always hold a hallowed place in the hearts of true 
Americans. 

My friends, no one not in ray position can appreciate the sadness I 
feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have 
lived more than a quarter of a century. Here my children were born, 
and here one of them is buried. I know not how soon I shall see you 
again. A duty devolves upon me which is greater perliai)s than that 
■which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. 
He never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Prov- 
idence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot suocee. I 
without the same divine aid which sustained him, and in the same 
Almighty Being I place my reliance for support; and I hope you, my 
friends, will pray that I may receive that divine assistance without 
which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain. Again I 
bid you all an affectionate farewell. — [Holland, p. 2.54. 

The 4th of March had come, when the inaugural, the 
great ceremonial of the nation, was to take place. In some 
respects it was more imposing than the crowning of a mon- 
arch, for Mr. Lincoln was the choice of the people ; they 
conferred upon him all the power he could possess, and 



102 WILLIAM A. BL'CKIMJHAM. 

thev could take it from him and bestow it upon another if 
they found it necessary. Then the world was looking on 
with peculiar interest, to see what kind of a chief magis- 
trate we had chosen, and whether he would be able to carry 
U3 through such a crisis in our history, or there was to be 
an end of the only successful experiment of self-govern- 
ment on a great scale. There was an intense acd universal 
anxiety to know what Mr. Lincoln's position and that of 
the new administration was to be in regard to slavery and 
secession. Would he make the concessions demanded by 
the former, or permit under any circumstances the latter ? 
He listened to everybody and seemed to give candid consid- 
eration to every suggestion, but strenuously refused to 
decide finally upon his policy until he had taken counsel 
with those who were to make up his cabinet, and then he 
would announce the result to the country in his inaugural 
address. The day of inauguration came this year on Mon- 
day, and opened bright and balmy like one of our Northern 
spring days two months later. The city was crowded with 
visitors, as it always is on such an occasion, only it was 
noticeable that there were fewer from the South and more 
from the North, especially from the West. Pennsylvania 
avenue in all its breadth, and for the mile between the 
President's house and the Capitol, was a mass of people, 
and so was every street leading into it from which a view 
of the procession could be obtained. There was as little 
show as possible of troops and military preparation against 
disorder and violence, and less than 700 national troops 
were in the city. The volunteer military companies of the 
city and of the district were there, where they were natur- 
ally in place, like so many other organizations of various 
kinds, to make the pageant more imposing. But the police 
had been carefully posted, the small force of regular cavalry 
was to guard the intersection of every street with the avenue, 
and squads of riflemen occupied the tops of some of the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 103 

iiouses. A battalion of District of Columbia troops guarded 
the steps of the Capitol, and riflemen occupied the windows 
of the wings of the Capitol. Nor was this all, for, as the 
latest and most exact history of this period informs us, 
*' On the brow of the hill, not far from the north entrance 
to the Capitol, commanding both the approach up the 
avenue and the broad plateau of the east front, where people 
were massed to see the new President inducted into office, 
a battery of flying artillery was stationed, in the immediate 
vicinity of which General Scott remained a careful observer 
of the scene during the entire ceremonies, ready to take 
personal command and direction should any untoward 
occurrence render it necessary." * 

As Congress must adjourn at noon. President Buchanan 
was detained at the Capitol imtil that hour, when he was 
driven rapidly down the avenue to take up the new Presi- 
dent and escort him, as the custom was, back to the east 
portico of the Capitol, where his inauguration would take 
place. The procession was made up of these two person- 
ages in a modest carriage drawn by two horses, preceded 
by a company of sappers and miners, followed by the 
infantry and riflemen of the District of Columbia, and 
flanked on either side by double files of a squadron of dis- 
trict cavalry. Then came that innuraeral)le company, made 
u}) of the members of the cabinet and of Congress, officers 
of the army and the navy, foreign ministers and the diplo- 
matic corps, the judiciary and the clergy, the corporate 
authorities of Washington and Georgetown, political and 
military associations from all parts of the country, and 
finally the citizens of the District of Columbia and of every 
State and territory. These as they took their line of march 
up that broad and crowded avenue, which has been styled 



* The number of Government troops was only 653. exclusive of marines always 
stationed at the navy yard. ThLs is given in President Buchanan's Special Message 
to the House in answer to their inquiry why he was assembling such an unusual 
number of troops at Washington. 



104 WILLIAM A. buckin(;ham. 

the " Via Sacra leading to the Capitoline Hill of our 
Republic," cheered on by bands of music, and welcomed as 
they advanced hy countless voices, would have seemed 
another Roman triumph to one who could not understand 
that our war was just beginning, of which no mortal man 
could tell the issue. 

When the procession reached the Capitol, the Senate 
chamber was found densely packed with officials and 
civilians, and here a new procession was formed, consisting 
of the President, the President-elect and his family, the 
Chief Justice in his robe, the Clerk of the Court with the 
Bible, who escorted Mr, Lincoln to the east portico, where 
in a group around him, and in the presence of that vast 
multitude below and beyond him, he was inducted with 
solemn ceremony into his high office. It was, as has been 
said, a remarkable group that confronted each other there, 
in those four historic personages who were the central 
figures. 

Senator Douglas, the author of the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise, representing the legislative power of the American Govern- 
ment; Chief Justice Taney, author of the Dred-Scott Decision, 
representing the intluence of the Judiciary; and President Buchanan, 
■who by his Lecompton measures and messages had used the whole 
executive power and patronage to intensify and perpetuate the mis- 
chiefs born of the repeal, and the dictum. Fourth in the group stood 
Abraham J.incoln, President-elect, illustrating the vital political 
truth announced in that sentence of his Cincinnati speech in which 
he declared: "The people of these United States are the rightful 
masters of both congresses and courts, not to overthrow the Con- 
stitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." 
When the cheers which greeted his api)earance had somewhat abated. 
Senator Baker of Oregon rose and introduced Mr. Lincoln to the 
audience, and stepping forward, the President-elect, in a firm, clear 
voice, thoroughly practiced in addressing the huge open-air assem- 
blages of the West, read his inaugural, to which every ear listened 
with the most intense eagerness.— [jVicoiay and Hay's History, p. 277, 
and Dr. Holland's Life of Lincoln, p. 278. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 105 

It was a remarkable address, considering the man and 
his antecedents, the times so critical, the clear and fair 
statement of the great question at issue, over which the 
South and the North had been struggling for half a century, 
and upon which they were about to rush into a fratricidal 
war, the wise and least irritating way in which the subject 
was discussed, the firm yet reluctant way in which the new 
President took his position, and indicated what the nation 
might expect the policy of his administration to be. These 
characteristics of it, together with that appeal to his "dis- 
satisfied fellow-countrymen," and touching reference to the 
mystic ties which bind every heart in the land to its history, 
will cause it to be read with undiminished interest, so long 
as anybody shall take any interest in our history. 

In the introduction, the President corrects a misappre- 
hension that existed in regard to his position on the great 
question at issue between the North and the South : 
"Apprehensions seem to exist among the people of the 
Southern States that by the accession of a Republican 
administration, their property and their peace and personal 
security are to be endangered. There has never been any 
reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most 
ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed 
and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all 
the public speeches of him who now addresses you. 1 do but 
quote from one of those speeches when I declare that I have 
no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the 
institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I 
believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no 
inclination to do so." After discussing the right of seces- 
sion and showing that the Constitution makes no provision 
for any such event, and that it is inconsistent with the very 
object for which the Constitution was ordained and estab- 
lished, "to form a mote perfect Union," he adds: "I 
therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the 



106 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

laws, the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability 
I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins 
upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed, 
in all the Stiites." Then after considering the decision of 
the supreme court upon the subject of slavery, and admit- 
ting its binding force upon the parties to a suit under it, he 
shows that its sphere and power must be limited by the 
power and sphere of the other departments of a popular 
government, otherwise "the people will have ceased to be 
their own rulers and have practically resigned their govern- 
ment into the hands of that eminent tribunal." And finally, 
after counseling the people, "one and all, to think calmly 
and well upon this whole subject," before they break down 
their government, or essentially modify its Constitution, 
and have confidence in the intelligence, patriotism, and 
Christianity of the people, and in God who has never 
yet forsaken this favored land, to adjust in the best 
way all their present difficulties, the President closes 
as follows : — 

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, 
is tlie momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail 
you; you can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. 
Tou have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, 
while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and 
defend it. I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We 
must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must 
not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, 
stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living 
heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the 
chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be by 
the better angels of our nature. 

When the cheering had subsided, the Chief Justice arose, 
the clerk presented the open Bible, and upon it the Pres- 
ident-elect deliberately pronounced the oath of office : " I, 
Abraham Lincoln, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully 
execute the office of President of the United States, and 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 107 

will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend 
the Constitution of the United States." 

Amid the shouts of the people, the booming of cannon, 
and the inspiration of bands of music, " Citizen Buchanan 
and President Lincoln" returned to their carriage, and 
were escorted back as they came to the executive mansion, 
where they bade each other good-by with mutual good 
wishes and hopes for the country ; the one to enter upon 
his presidential term of unequaled perplexities and perils, 
and to be cut off prematurely by martyrdom, leaving him the 
most peculiar and one of the noblest personages of our his- 
tory ; while the other, spurned by his Southern friends after 
they had betrayed him and made a tool of him as long as 
they could, and neglected by his partisans of the North as 
soon as they found that he could no longer hold their party 
together, found a temporary asylum with his friend, Mr. 
Ould,* soon to become a Confederate ofhcer, until the 
former could return to his home in Pennsylvania, there to 
pass wholly out of public life, and almost out of public 
notice, for the few years that remained to him. Mr. 
Buchanan was neither an unpatriotic or an unprincipled 
man. But he was not equal to the emergency, when placed 
at the head of the government. At the dictation of the 
South, he introduced into his cabinet several of the leading 
secessionists, who controlled his policy and tied his hands 
until that movement was almost too strong ever to be 
checked. He was, as he designated himself in one of his 
public documents, an "Old Public Functionary," trained to 
administer public affairs simply by rule and precedent, even 
though the rules were wrong and the precedents bad. He 
lived, too, in the most corrupt period of politics, when 
such maxims as, "All is fair in politics," were not only 



• Mr. Ould was TTnited States District Attorney, made such by Mr. Buchanan, and 
wlio, though a native of Maryland, soon fled to Richmond, and entered the military 
service of the Confederacy, and was made their commissioner for the exchange of 
prisoners. 



108 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

acted upon but avowed, and, "To the victors belong the 
spoils," and before the civil service reform was undertaken, 
or that better maxim had been announced in an inaugural, 
that, "He who serves his country best, best serves his 
party." And trained and practiced in such a school up to 
his old age, perhaps it was too much to expect that he could 
evpr change his principles and habits to meet any emer- 
gency however dangerous. And so this one of our Pres- 
idents retired from j)ublic life the object of charitable judg- 
ment and almost of pity from the country, rather than of 
high honor or grateful remembrance. 



CBAPTER Vri. 

The Breaking Out of the War. 

Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet and the Views Held by its Members and by 
Him — The Bombardment of Fort Sumter — The Purpose of South 
Carolina Accomplished. 

Mr. Lincoln appointed the following cabinet officers : — 

William H. Seward of New York, Secretary of State. 
Salmon P Chase of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury. 
Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War. 
Gideon Welles of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy. 
Caleb B. Smith of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior. 
Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney General. 
Montgomery Blair of Maryland, Postmaster General. 

It will be noticed that Mr. Lincoln selected Mr. Seward, 
his chief rival in the Republican convention which nomi- 
nated him for the presidency, for the most important posi- 
tion in his cabinet, and the three next appointments were 
the three who received the next largest votes for the same 
position. This was not only magnanimous, but fitted to 
secure the confidence of the North in the new administra- 
tion, though some of its members were distrusted on the 
slavery question, and it was feared that some of the others 
would compromise matters without settling that question 
properly. But it was an able and trustworthy cabinet, 
especially after Mr. Stanton went into it a little later. 

The exact position of the President and his cabinet was 
not at first understood. When Mr. Buchanan was asked 
what he thought of the inaugural address, he is said to 
have replied : " I cannot say what he means until I have 
read it. I cannot understand the secret meaning: of the 



110 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

document, which has been simply read to me." * Senator 
Douglas replied to a similar inquiry : " Well, I hardly know 
what he means. Every point in the address is susceptible 
of a double construction." It is not strange, perhaps, that 
the secessionists hardly knew what to expect from the new 
administration, when the President stated its position and 
policy in such guarded terms and with such evident reluc- 
tance to resort to force. True, he claimed for the govern- 
ment the right of coercion, but he might never exercise it 
any more than Mr. Buchanan did, who, though he gave up 
the right of coercion with reference to the secession of a 
State, did make it a duty " to collect the public revenues 
and to protect the public property," and claimed the right 
" to use military force " for such a purpose, but he never 
exercised that right nor discharged that duty. Under the 
shelter of such impunity, South Carolina had already 
declared itself out of the Union, seized the Federal arsenal 
in Charleston and was collecting forces and constructing 
batteries with which to subdue Fort Sumter, one of the 
fortifications of the general government and held by a Fed- 
eral force. And Mr. Lincoln, while he claimed such a 
right and admitted such a duty, might be afraid to under- 
take, or find himself unable to accomplish, such a difficult 
task any more than his predecessor. The truth was that 
no other administration had ever come into power beset by 
such obstacles and perplexities as this must encounter. 
Looking back upon that period, and understanding better 
than any one could at the time, what agencies were plotting 
the overthrow of the government, and what influences 
were at work at the North, as well as at the South, to allow 



* For the numerous and remarkable suggrestions made by Mr. Seward in respect 
to that paper, and as to such as were rejected, or adopted, or modified, ic is worth 
while to refer to them as given in full and compared by Nicolay & Hay iu their history 
of Mr. Lincoln. And not the least interesting of them is the close of that address, 
as suggested by the one and wrought out by the peculiar genius and glowing 
patriotism of the other.— The Century, Dec. 1887, p. 278. 



WILLIAM A. ]iLJCKIN(;HAM. 11 L 

them to become successful, it does seem as if the prospect 
was about as dark and threatening as it could be. Let one 
ask himself now, what should have been done, or could 
have been done better than was done, and he will find him- 
self unable to furnish any satisfactory answer. 

Seven of the fifteen slave States had already seceded 
and organized a government of their own. What if all the 
rest should join them, as Virginia was preparing to do? 
Would the North be united in sustaining a vigorous and 
coercive policy, even though it brought on war? What would 
the business interests of Pennsylvania say to it, or the democ- 
racy of Connecticut and of the country, whose long ascend- 
ency in the national government had depended on the 
miited support of the South? And, amid the divisions of the 
North, what would that portion of the public press think of 
it which was willing to let these "erring sisters" go, sure 
that they would soon be glad enough to come back ? or the 
leaders of the old Abolition party, who were distinctively 
peace men, and would not approve of war in any case ? 
Then again, if the South were united and the North were 
not, could the rebellion be put down ? and if it was, what 
kind of citizens would the Southerners make as conquered 
subjects ? Such was the position of the new administration. 
And if ever men needed the rarest wisdom, the firmest 
principle, the kindest and most reasonable disposition, such 
as Mr. Lincoln possessed, and " that Divine assistance 
without which we cannot succeed, and with which success 
is certain," which he besought his neighbors to pray might 
be given him, as he left them to enter upon the presidency, 
that administration required it. For just then the nation — 
one part of it insane in its passion for slavery and dream 
of building upon such a basis a permanent and prosperous 
empire, and the other part incredulous that it would ever 
be attempted and utterly unprepared to prevent it — was 
suddenly struck by that dark thunder squall of war which 



112 WILLIAM A. BUCKhN<;ilAM, 

proved to be the prelude to such a long and terrible storm. 
The crisis came in this way. Mr. Lincoln and his cabinet, 
while asserting the right of the government to use force to 
prevent secession, and retain its forts and public property, 
were naturally reluctant to resort to this. 80 they delayed, 
used only careful and conciliatory language, were ready to 
make any adjustments that would not give up free territory 
to slavery, and do away with the spirit of the Constitution, 
and the provisions of solemn ordinances, which made 
slavery an allowed local institution, while freedom was to 
be the characteristic of our republic, and rule wherever 
slavery had not been permitted. Then the struggle which 
had been going on over this subject ever since the govern- 
ment was fairly established, and especially over every 
accession of new territory, had finally been fairly settled 
by the election of Mr. Lincoln, and ought to have remained 
so. Still the new administration, and the party behind it, 
were well disposed towards any reasonable concessions that 
would conciliate the South and prevent war. Secretary 
Seward, abolitionist as he was. was ready, we believe, to let 
the Fugitive Slave Law, the most objectionable of all meas- 
ures put upon the free States, stand, if the fugitives might 
only have a trial by jury. Secretary Chase, as pronounced 
an anti-slavery man as Mr. Seward, advised the free States 
to repeal their Personal Liberty Bills, which were most 
offensive to the slave States, and as to which there was 
doubt about their constitutionality. The President, for his 
part, was extremely anxious to have the government pur- 
chase and emancipate the slaves of Virginia to prevent her 
joining the Confederacy, and leading off the other border 
States in the same direction. But nothing could be done to 
avert the issue. South Carolina was provoking an attack. 
She had fired upon and driven off the " Star of the West," 
an unarmed steamer sent with supplies to one of the forts 
in Charleston harbor. General Bragg, in command of the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 113 

Confederate troops, had forbidden the furnishing of "fuel, 
water, and provisions, to the armed vessels and forts of the 
United States." These were acts of war, and positive 
enough. But both parties were reluctant to strike the first 
blow, that the blame of it might be thrown upon the other. 
And South Carolina, impatient of longer delay, did it with 
tlie results that followed.* 

The government had several forts in Charleston harbor^, 
of which Fort Sumter was the strongest. So when Major 
Anderson, who occupied Fort Moultrie with a small force, 
found himself likely to be attacked and at a disadvantage, 
he removed his men and supplies to Fort Sumter. It is a 
modern structure, built of brick and solid masonry from 
eight to twelve feet thick, sixty feet high, and pierced by 
two tiers of portholes from bombproof casements, with a 
row of unprotected guns upon the parapet above. It lies 
upon the very surface of the water, about two miles and a 
half from the city, upon an artificial foundation made by 
sinking shiploads of granite chips from northern quarries, 
at a cost to the government of half a million of dollars and 
ten years of time. It was hardly finished when Major 
Anderson took possession of it, and it had only seventy-five 
cannon, though built for 140. He took possession of it 
with only 109 men, fifteen of whom were musicians, and 
thirty more common laborers, while 600 troops was its 
proper garrison. Then again, it was not built for defense 
against Charleston, but to protect Charleston. So when 
Major Anderson found himself exposed to a dozen or more 
well-manned and powerful batteries in his rear and on his 



* For one reason and another tliere was a disposition on the part of many, to 
};ive almost any indulgence or make almost any concession for the sake of peace, 
without considering very closely the rightfulness or the danger of it. As the Pres- 
ident illustrated it to his cabinet by one of his "little stories :" "My little boy once 
complained to me that his brother had his knife, and would not give it to him. 
The truth was Ted had sold it to liis brother for candy and eaten that up. Sol 
said, O Bob, give him his knife, if only to keep him quiet. "Yes,' he said, "but! 
want it to keep me quiet.' " 



114 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

sides, and from 6,000 to 8,000 Confederate troops to assail 
him at every vulnerable point, and when a fleet that had 
come to his relief lay off the harbor, and communicated 
with him, but dared not encounter these batteries, it is not 
to be supposed that he expected to successfully resist such 
an attack. But though a Southerner himself, unlike so 
many others who betrayed their trust with no pretense of 
resistance, he held out to the last and surrendered only 
when further resistance was impossible and further delay 
useless. 

The attack was fierce, and while it lasted the scenes 
within that fort were terrible. At 3.30 Friday morning, 
April 12, Major Anderson was summoned to surrender, 
to which he replied, that "his sense of honor and his 
obligations to the government would prevent his compli- 
ance." An hour later the attack was commenced by a 
simultaneous and concentrated fire from all the forts, bat- 
teries and an ironclad raining solid shot, hot shot and 
shells upon that devoted spot and little garrison. Within 
the bombproof chambers the men were comparatively safe, 
but whenever they attempted to use their unsheltered guns 
upon the parapet, which were most manageable, they were 
found inferior to the improved guns of their assailants, and 
the men were soon driven back to their shelter. Abbott 
says of the bombardment: — 

It is difficult for one not familiar with war to imagine the power 
of the missiles which modern science has constructed. Solid walls 
of brick were crumbled down like powder; cannons weighinfj thou- 
sands of pounds were thrown from their carriages by the explosion 
of shells. Red-hot shot and bursting shells soon set the wooden bar- 
racks of the soldiers on fire and nearly the whole interior of the fort 
blazed like a furnace. For thirty-six hours this terrific bombardment 
continued all day and all night, with but occasional lulls, from the 
early dawn of Friday morning till near the close of Saturday after- 
noon. An eyewitness thus describes the scene : The fire surrounded 
us on all sides. Fearful that the walls might crack and the shells 
pierce and prostrate them, we commenced taking the powder out of 



WILLIAM A. buckin(;ham. 115 

the magazine and throwing it into the sea, which we did to the 
amount of ninety-six barrels. Owing to a lack of cartridges we kept 
five men inside the magazine, sewing them up in our shirts, sheets, 
blankets, and using up everything of this kind in the fort. When we 
were finally obl.ged to close the magazine, and our material for 
cartridges was exhausted, we were left destitute of any means to 
continue the contest. We had eaten our last biscuit thirty-six hours 
before. We came very near being stifled with the dense smoke from 
the burning buildings. Many of the men lay prostrite on the ground, 
with wet handkerchiefs over their mouths and eyes, gasping for 
breath. It was a moment of imminent peril. If an eddy of wi:id had 
not ensued, we all probably should have been suffocated. The crash- 
ing of the shot, the bursting of the shells, the falling of walls, and the 
roar of the flames, made a pandemonium of the fort. We neverthe- 
less kept up a steady fire as long as possible. — [Abbott, Vol. I, p. 89. 

But the end had come. Their bread was gone, and even 
their rice had become mixed with glass from the shattered 
windows, while their powder was almost exhausted, much 
of it having been thrown into the sea, as above mentioned, 
and the magazines permanently closed for fear of the 
spreading conflagration. The flagstaff was repeatedly 
struck and finally shot away half way up, and then the flag 
was nailed to the staff. But it must be lowered now and a 
white flag run up, which was done soon after noon on Sat- 
urday, the 13th of April. The terms of surrender were 
soon arranged. The fort was to be evacuated, the garrison 
to retain their arms, with personal and company property, 
and march out with the honors of war and be transferred 
to some government vessel outside of the harbor. So the 
next morning, the morning of a peaceful Sabbath after all 
the thunder of battle that preceded it, at nine o'clock the 
flag was lowered with a salute of fifty guns, the band played 
" Yankee Doodle " and " Hail Columbia," and the garrison 
marched out of the main gate, with the Stars and Stripes 
waving over them, and went on board of the transport 
Isabel, to be taken to the United States ship Baltic in the 
outer harbor, which carried them to New York. 

" Strike a blow. The very moment that blood is shed, 



116 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Virginia will make common cause with her sisters of the 
South." " Sprinkle blood in the faces of the people of 
Alabama, or else they will be back in the Union in less 
than ten days." Such counsel, given by the instigators 
of the war, shows that the mass of the Southern })eople 
loved the Union, and were reluctant to resort to arms even 
to secure greater privileges for their favorite institution, 
which was undoubtedly true. And this urging them into 
violence, by the assurance of impunity and the promise of 
success in such a conflict, until they were all involved to- 
gether in the guilt and punishment of treason, shows the 
desperate character of their leaders. Of course South 
Carolina, the champion of State sovereignty, who once 
attempted to carry it out in nullification, and was now 
resolved to do it by secession, was exultant. With her 
there had been a long season of earnest preparation, impa- 
tient waiting, anxious hope, and when the reduction of 
Sumter had been accomplished, there was a corresponding 
relief, and exultation and confidence for the future. Per- 
haps it is not strange that on that Saturday afternoon, when 
the firing had ceased and it was known that the fort had 
surrendered, the bells of the city were chimed, guns fired, 
and the whole population in the streets congratulated each 
other on their wonderful victory, or that the governor of 
the State, in his address to the citizens in the evening, 
should have exultingly said : " We have humbled the flag 
of the United States. It is the first time in the history of 
the country that the Stars and Stripes have been humbled. 
We have defeated twenty millions ; we have brought down 
in humility the flag that has triumphed for seventy years. 
But to-day, on this thirteenth day of April, it has been 
humbled, and humbled before the glorious little State of 
South Carolina." Even the ministers of religion reckoned 
their success as the seal of Divine approval. The Roman 
Catholic bishop on Sunday celebrated the victory with a 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 117 

Te Deum and congratulatory address, while the good old 
Episcopal bishop, blind and feeble, said it was his strong 
persuasion, confirmed by travel through every section of 
the State, that the movement in which the people were 
engaged was begun by them in the deepest conviction of 
-duty to God, and God had signally blessed their dependence 
on him. But we are poor interpreters of God's plans when 
we are engaged in unrighteous business, or blinded by 
interest and passion. The wise man long ago observed that 
" the end of a thing is better than the beginning," and so 
it was here, though the way lay beyond great fields of battle 
and years of doubtful and desperate struggle. 



CHAPTER Vni. 

The Uprising op the People. 

Ho'w the News of the Fall of Sumter was Received at the North — The 
Call for 75,000 Men — Southern States, Not in Secession, Refuse to 
Obey It — The Demonstration of Patriotism at the North — How 
Arms had been Traitorously Secured by the South. 

Although the attack upon Fort Sumter was feared and 
expected, it seemed as if it could hardly be, and in some 
way would be prevented. It was known that several vessels 
of war had gone to its relief, and in fact they lay at the 
entrance of the harbor and communicated by signals with 
the fort during the bombardment, but could not expose 
themselves to such a fire. It had been said that the gov- 
ernment by some understanding with South Carolina might 
be allowed to provision the fort if nothing more, and both 
wait for further developments. It hardly seemed possible 
that war should be resorted to, to maintain slavery, and to 
break up an administration opposed to its extension, when 
such differences had always been allowed in regard to it, 
and some twenty presidential elections taken place and been 
acquiesced in, in spite of all sectional and party differences. 
It was incredible that any party or any section should 
attempt to pull down their own house upon their own 
heads, where for generations they had dwelt as one family 
in peace and prosperity, or that the rest of the country 
should ever allow it to be done. No definite intelligence 
had been received for several days from Charleston, and 
when the attack on Sumter began, all communication what- 
ever with the North was prevented. So when, after those 
two days of intense suspense, it was flashed over the wires. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 119 

" Sumter has fallen," almost before the reverberations of 
those besieging guns had ceased and the smoke cleared 
avvaj, the news was announced on the bulletin boards of 
every city and large town to a shifting crowd ; the papers 
were issuing their extras to carry it on the next train as far 
and as swiftly as steam could carry them ; from every 
station the news was spread to every village, hamlet, and 
manufacturing establishment, and somehow the birds of 
the air seemed to carry it to each country store, black- 
smith's shop, and remote dwelling, until that event — the 
surrender of Sumter — so insignificant in a military point of 
view, but so all-important in its effect upon the country, 
which took place at half-past one on Saturday that four- 
teenth of April, was known over the length and breadth of 
the land before the sun could set and the peace of the Sab- 
bath steal into the hearts of the people. 

The effect of this intelligence upon the North can hardly 
be described. It thrilled every soul. It brought the soberest 
reflection, and forecast the future with a soundness of judg- 
ment, a firmness of principle, and confidence in the final 
result, that time has justified and will forever honor. 

The newspapers, as a rule, answered nobly to the demands 
of the occasion, and spoke patriotically and wisely. Wit- 
ness a single extract which must stand for many more, not 
all so well expressed or so far-seeing, but yet showing com- 
prehension of the facts and their meaning: — 

The end of the first outbreak of war has come soon, and the tiag of 
the country has ceased to wave above Fort Sumter. In the first con- 
flict the rebels have triumphed, and civil war has been inauo;urated. 
What the end will be, no human eye can foresee, but all eyes can see 
that we are in the midst either of a revolution or a gi<^antic rebellion. 
Force must now be met by force, and the strength of the government 
must be tested. It is evident that nothing less is aimed at now by 
the rebels than the revolution of the government. They boldly 
proclaim their determination to march upon and capture Washington 
and become the possessors of the archives of the nation. 



120 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The reception of the news in SpriiijrlicUl on Saturday was accom- 
panied by the most profound interest and excitement. The streets 
were thronged with men, universally gathered into knots where the 
news was discussed. There was only here and there one among the 
«rowd who manifested any sympathy with the rebels, but from men 
of all parties the assurance came that the government must be sup- 
ported. If the feeling here is an index of the general feeling of the 
North, a spirit has been aroused which will spare neither men ncir 
money for wiping out the rebellion, and expunging the inock and 
mob government that has consented to head it. All feel that the 
government has now no choice but to go forward and compel respect 
for itself by force. One hundred thousand men and one hundred 
millions of money could be placed at the disposal of the government 
in a fortnight, and men enough poured into Washington in twenty- 
four hours to meet any force that could be brought against it in a 
month. We cannot doubt that the administration will fulfill the 
expectations and respond to the voice of the people. 

Civil war has been begun by the rebels, and an important question 
arises as to the relations which the party in the Xorth, politically 
opposed to the present administratior., will assume toward the gov- 
-ernTuent. Is partisanship to be subordinate now, and patriotism 
^lominantV or are we to be treated to caviling and poorly marked or 
-opeidy avowed sympathy with the traitors ? Are there men in any 
Northern State whose blood is so acrid and so thin that they can take 
■(lelight in the humiliation of the national flag, and are willing to aid 
<lirectly or indirectly the traitors ? We hope not. We hope to hear 
on every side the expressions of devotion to the Union, and the deter- 
mination to stand by the administration until this question is settled. 
And we may as well declare here our conviction touching the state of 
feeling which is rapidly developing at tiie North. The time is coming, 
and that very speedily, when traitorous words will not be tolerated; 
Avhen men who sympathize with rebellion will not dare to open their 
mouths or show their heads. There has been, in one part of our 
•country, a "reign of terror" for patriots; there will come a "reign 
of terror " for traitors. Curses be upon him who Avill not stand by 
his country and his flag in their hour of i>eril. — [Sprinyjield liepub- 
iican, April 15, 1861. * 



* The service done to the country at this crisis and all through the war by the 
^Northern press should never fail to be appreciated. Hasty :is its utterances neces- 
sarily must be, partisan as they must also be. in the sense of holding to some par- 
ticular policy of government and anxious to have certain men elected to oflBce to 
tdminister that policy, and tempted to give way in the heat of a canvass to preju- 
<iice, personality and misrepresentation; ^till how few of its utterances breath d 
•disloyidty to the government, or wou d discourage volunteering to uphold the 
government ! How soon every such discordant note was drowned in the loud 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 121 

Sunday, the day after the surrender of Sumter, was an 
anxious and busy one with the President and his cabinet. 
They were deciding upon that call for troops which was 
issued the next morning, and summoning to their aid all 
who could help them, regardless of party connections or 
personal animosities. Among others. Senator Douglas's 
support was secured. Partisan as he was, and a relentless 
opponent as he was regarded, it is interesting to see what 
a patriot he could be, and by what gentle influences he 
could be controlled. Dr. Holland, in his "Life of Lincoln," 
tells how this was brought about: — 

Hon. George Ashrnun of Massachusetts, who was personally on the 
most friendly terms with Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, called on 
the latter to obtain from him some public declaration that should 
help the government in its extremity. He found the Senator sur- 
rounded by political friends, who were soon dismissed, and then for 
an hour the two men discussed the relations of Mr. Douglas to the 
administration. The first impui.se of the Senator was against Mr. 
Ashmun's wishes, who desired him to go to the President at once 
and tell him he would sustain him in all the needful measures which 
the exigency demanded. His reply was: "Mr. Lincoln has dealt 
hardly with me in removing some of my friends from office, and I 
don't know as he wants my advice or aid." Mr. Ashmun remarked 
that he had probably followed democratic precedents in making 
removals, but that the present question was above party, and that it 
was now in the power of Mr. Douglas to render such a service to his 
country as would not only give him a title to its lasting gratitude, but 
would show that in the hour of his country's need he could trample 
all party considerations and resentments under foot. At this juncture 
Mrs. Douglas came in, and gave the whole weight of her affectionate 
influence in the direction in which Mr. Ashmun was endeavoring to 
lead him. He could not withstand the influence of his fi'iend, his 
wife, and that better natui'e to which they appealed. He gave up all 



demand that all the men and money ihat were needed should be furnished at once. 
Even in the .State of New York, where the " peace party " was strongest and coer- 
cion was not believed in, and settlement upon any terms was resjarded as our only 
relief, the press as well as the people responded heartily to the President's call for 
troops. There is a public sentiment in the press which corrects its own mistakes, 
and controls by its abler, and wiser, and more patriotic utterances those who would 
differ from them. So that our free press needed no government censorship, as 
in other countries, but helped to carry us through the war as much as ourar.xy 
and navy. 



122 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

his enmity and resentment, and casting every unworthy sentiment 
and selfish feeling behind him, declared his willinorness to go at once 
to Mr. Lincoln and offer him his earnest and hearty support. It was 
nearly dark when the two gentlemen started for the President's 
house. Mr. Lincoln was alone, and on learning of their errand gave 
them a most cordial welcome. For once the lifelong antagonists were 
united in heart and purpose. Mr. Lincoln took up the proclamation, 
calling for 75,000 troops, which he had determined to issue the next 
day, and read it. When he had read it, Mr. Douglas rose from his 
chair and said: " Mr. President, I cordially concur in every word of 
that document, except that instead of a call for 75,000 men I would 
make it 200,000. You do not know the dishonest purposes of those 
men as well as I do." 

This was telegraphed north at once with the proclama- 
tion, and caused immediately the beginning of that notable 
breaking down of party lines in support of the government. 
Within a week the senator from Illinois was on his way 
home, and making speeches by the way in behalf of the 
government. He had scarcely reached home when he was 
taken sick and died, leaving behind him, in one of the last 
letters he ever wrote, this testimony to his real patriotism : 
" We should never forget that a man cannot be a democrat, 
unless he is a loyal patriot." The call for 75,000 men was 
prepared that night, telegraphed over the country, and pub- 
lished in the papers the next morning. It read: — 

Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time 
past and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in 
the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, 
Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed 
by the ordinary course of political proceedings, or by the powers 
vested in the marshals by law: Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, 
President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by 
the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call for the militia 
of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of 75,000, 
in order to suppress such combinations, and to cause the laws to be 
duly executed. 

The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the 
State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal 
citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to maintain the honor, 
the integrity, and existence of our National Union and the perpetuity 
<if popular government, and to redress wrongs already long enough 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 123 

endured. I deem it proper to say, that the first service assigned 
to the forces hereby called forth, will probably be to repossess the 
forts, places, and property whicli have been seized from the Union ; 
and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistently 
with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction 
of, or interference with pi'operty, or any disturbance of peaceful 
citizens of any part of the country; and I hereby command the per- 
sons composing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and retire 
peaceably to their respective abodes, within twenty days from 
this date. 

Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an 
extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me 
vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. The 
Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble in 
their respective chambers at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the 
Fourth of July next, then and there to consider and determine such 
measures as in their wisdom the public safety and interests may seem 
to demand. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and in 
the independence of the United States the eighty-fifth. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

By the President. 

Wm. H. SeavAkd, Secretary of State. 

The border slave States which were yet in the Union, 
refused to furnish any troops at the call of the President, 
and even Kentucky, which professed such love for the 
Union, replied by her governor: "Your dispatch is 
received. In answer I say emphatically, that Kentucky 
will furnish no troops for the wicked jmrpose of subduing 
her sister Southern States." The governor of Virginia 
replied: "I have only to say, that the militia of Virginia 
will not be furnished for any such purpose ; " and Governor 
Harris replied : " Tennessee will not furnish a single man 
for coercion, but 50,000, if necessary, for the defense of our 
rights and those of our brethren." But the response of the 
North and West was entirely different. Governor Curtin 
wrote at once to the President, that Pennsylvania would 



124 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

send 100,000 men to Washington within forty-eight hours, 
if desired. The New York Legislature, on the eve of its 
adjournment, and the very day Sumter surrendered, voted 
half a million of dollars to arm and equip her militia 
and meet the demands of the government, and Governor 
Morgan issued at once his call for 25,000 men. Governor 
Sprague of Rhode Island offered the services of the Marine 
Artillery of Providence, and a regiment of infantry, and to 
go himself in command of them, as he did. Such was the 
prompt and hearty response for troops all along the line 
of the free States, that the prediction of the Sprinnfield 
Republican^ that " one hundred thousand men, and one 
hundred millions of money could be placed at the disposal 
of the government in a fortnight," was no extravagance of 
enthusiasm, but only a just appreciation of the spirit of 
the people. 

Then began the raising and forwarding of troops. If 
the States had been in possession of arms and equipment 
for their men, they would have poured them into Washing- 
ton as fast as the railroads could have carried them. But 
we had needed no troops for many years, and had almost 
<5ome to think that we never should need them any more. 
There was an enrollment of men fit for military service 
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, and there were 
a few armed and equipped volunteer companies for escort 
duty on public occasions, and to support the civil authorities 
in case of a riot. But the mass of the militia had neither 
arms nor uniforms. Even the arms manufactured by the 
government and distributed among the States had, under 
the Buchanan administration, when John B. Floyd was 
Secretary of War, been principally sent to the South, so 
that our arsenals had been fairly stripped to replenish 
theirs. This was a part of the plot of the Secessionists, 
and carried out by the treason in Mr. Buchanan's cabinet. 
And with what success, let Mr. Pollard, who had been iu 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 125 

government employ at Washington and was one of the 
original Secessionists, say, as he does in his " Southern 
(Confederate) History of the War," p. 40: — 

It had been supposed that the Southern people, poor in manufac- 
tures as they were, and in the haste for the mighty contest that was 
to ensue, would find themselves but illy provided with arms to con- 
tend with an enemy rich in the means and munitions of war. This 
disadvantage had been provided against by the timely act of one man. 
Mr. Floyd of Virginia, when Secretary of War under Mr. Buchanan's 
administration, had by a single order effected the transfer of 115,000 
improved muskets and rifles from the Springfield Armory and Water- 
vliet Arsenal to the different arsenals of the South. Adding to these 
the number of arms distributed by the Federal government to the 
States in preceding years of our history, and those purchased by the 
States and citizens, it was safely estimated that the South entered 
upon the war with 150,000 small arms of the most apiH'oved modern 
pattern and the best in the world. 

As showing how far treason had gone in betraying its 
trusts and robbing the nation of its arms and all means of 
defense, we have only to refer to facts like these : Secretary 
Floyd, of whom Mr. Pollard speaks so respectfully, was 
under indictment when he left, by the grand jury at Wash- 
ington, for malfeasance in office and conspiring to defraud 
the government. Secretary Thompson of the Department 
of the Interior left behind him a defalcation of nearly a 
million of dollars in that department. Mr. Howell Cobb, 
Secretary of the Treasury, resigned, leaving his department 
and the government without credit. Georgia took militaiy 
possession of the Federal arsenal at Augusta, and also of 
Forts Pulaski and Jackson, commanding the approaches by 
sea to Savannah. The governor of North Carolina seized 
the United States arsenal at Fayetteville, with Fort Macon 
and other fortifications commanding the approaches to 
Beaufort and Wilmington. The governor of Alabama 
seized the Federal arsenal at Mobile, and also Fort Morgan, 
commanding the approaches to Mobile. In Louisiana, the 
Federal arsenal at Baton Rouge was also seized bv order of 



126 WILLIAM A. BUCKhN<JHAM. 

the governor, and the two forts corninandhig the mouth of 
the Mississippi and access to New Orleans, and finally the 
Federal mint and custom house at New Orleans. The navy 
yard at Pensacola was also taken possession of by Florida 
and Alabama forces, and Fort Pickens was only saved by 
the patriotism and intrepidity of Lieutenant Slemmer. 
But the grossest betrayal of trust, and of greatest imme- 
diate peril to the government, was that of General Twiggs, 
in command of the department of Texas. He had distin- 
guished himself in the Mexican war, and received a pres- 
entation sword from the government in honor of his 
services. Yet he turned over his entire army, with all the 
ports, fortifications and property of that department, to the 
Secessionists, and by that single act robbed the government 
of one-half of its military force and its ability to defend 
its Mexican borders, and more than a million and a half of 
property. 

The defensive fortifications located within the seceding States were 
some thirty in number, moiintiu<f over 3,000 guns, and leaving cost at 
least twenty millions of dollars. Nearly all of these had been seized 
and appropriated by the Confederates before Mr. Lincoln's inaugura- 
tion, with the exception of Fortress Monroe, Va., Fort Sumter, S. C, 
Fort Pickens, Fla., and the fortresses on Key West and the Tortugas, 
off the coast of Florida. — [Greeley's " American Co7iflict,'" Vol. I, 
p. 413. * 

Following an administration that had allowed such things 
to be done with impunity, and without even asserting the 
right to prevent it, the new administration found itself on 
the eve of a formidable civil war, without any army or 
navy worth mentioning, its fortifications occupied by the 
enemy, its very arms wrenched out of its own hands, with 
a bankrupt treasury, and not even credit enough upon 
which to make a decent loan. It was weak in everything 
except its right position, its able and patriotic President 



• The same might be said with almost equal truth of our navy. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 127 

and cabinet, the intelligence and principle of the people 
and their devotion to the Union. And the people, instead 
of waiting to have the government save them, were deter- 
mined to save the government. Had it been any other 
people, or any other form of government, it is not too 
much to say this government would never have been saved. 
But accustomed to do everything themselves in both church 
and state ; to elect their own religious teachers and magis- 
trates and support them ; to administer the affairs of the 
parish, the school district, the town, the state ; they were 
at no loss to know what to do or how to do it, whether it 
was to raise an army, or to furnish the government with 
the loan it needed, and, when this was done, to fight, suffer, 
and die, rather than have this best government yet organized, 
overthrown, as was shown by the response which the Pres- 
ident's appeal to the people met with. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Call to Arms in Connecticut. 

Governor Buckingham Calls for Troops and Pledges his Private For- 
tune to Equip Them — The People and the Legislature Respond 
with Equal Patriotism— Camps of Enlisted Men at Hartford, Nev? 
Haven and Norwich — Washington Cut Off — Governor Bucking- 
ham's Message to the President and How it was Sent and Received 
— The Early Volunteers — Governor Buckingham's Understanding 
of the Situation — Count de Gasparin's "Uprising of a Great 
People." 

Governor Buckingham had just been elected governor 
for the fourth time. The newly-elected Legislature was 
also Republican in both branches. It would not assemble 
for a fortnight, but time was precious, and the Governor did 
not hesitate to assume the responsibilities of such a crisis, 
and relying upon the intelligence and patriotism of the 
people to sustain him in it, responded at once to the Pres- 
ident's call for troops. This call for 76,000 men was made 
on Monday, April 15, two days after the fall of Sumter, 
and was telegraphed over the country to meet every man 
at his breakfast table or place of business that morning, 
summoning him to his duty in this matter. The Governor's 
order was issued the next day, as follows : — 

Whereas, the President of the United States, by proclamation, 
declares that the laws are now opposed, and the execution thereof 
obstructed by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the 
ordinary course of judicial proceedings, and has called for the militia 
of the several States to the aggregate number of 75,000 men; 

And, whereas, the Secretary of War has made a call upon the 
Executive of this State for one regiment of militia for immediate 
service; 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 129 

Therefore, I, William A. Buckingham, 5ommander-in-chief of the 
militia of the State of Connecticut, call upon the patriotic citizens of 
this State to volunteer their services and rendezvous immediately at 
the city of Hartford, reporting themselves to the adjutant general. 

The very next day he issued another call for another 
regiment to rendezvous at New Haven, " having reason to 
believe that the arsenal at Harper's Ferry and other public 
property has been seized by the revolutionists, and there is 
immediate danger of subverting the government." Harper's 
Ferry was seized by Virginia two days later, but the arsenal 
and workshops were blown up by the officer in charge at 
the last moment, though more or less of the machinery 
was saved and removed to Richmond, where it was used to 
manufacture arms for the Confederacy. A much more 
serious loss overtook the government at this time, in the 
loss of the Norfolk navy yard. Virginia was expected to 
take possession of this navy yard and Harper's Ferry, as 
well as capture Washington. Had she succeeded in secur- 
ing the ships of war at Norfolk, the heavy guns Cso many 
of them splendid Dahlgrens), and the immense store of 
ammunition and material for ships and forts, it would have 
gone far towards supplying the Confederacy with a naval 
force, as Harper's Ferry would have armed their land 
forces. Fortunately, though at immense loss and hindrance 
to the government, these ships were fired and sunk, and 
everything else blown up, and thus kept out of the 
hands of the rebels. It was this peril which led the Gov- 
ernor to call for a second regiment before any order came 
for them. 

He had already decided, the moment the President's first 
order came, to apply to the Thames bank of Norwich, of 
which he was a director, for a loan of $50,000 on his own 
personal security, for war purposes. Just then he received 
a telegram from Mr. E. C. Scranton, president of the Elm 
City bank, New Haven, tendering a loan to the State of 



130 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

the same amount. The Thames bank immediately offered 
him $100,000 instead of $50,000. Then came, one after 
another, tenders of $20,000 from the Fairfield County 
bank, $20,000 from Rockville bank, $25,000 from the 
Mechanics' bank, New Haven ; $50,000 from the Citizens' 
bank, Norwich ; $500,000 from the several banks of Hart- 
ford (one-tenth of their capital), and the New Haven banks 
soon after voted a loan of the same proportions, so that the 
Governor soon had at' his command more than a million of 
dollars, freely proffered to the State, with no other security 
for its repayment than confidence in their Governor, and in 
the intelligence and principle of their fellow-citizens. As 
showing that this confidence was not misplaced, it should 
be noticed that when the Legislature came together one of 
the first things done was to provide for such obligations, 
and it was voted without a dissenting voice to put $2,000,000 
into the hands of the Governor, with which to arm and 
equip 10,000 men. 

The above is by no means a complete account of the 
funds voluntarily furnished to arm and equip troops before 
any State appropriation was made. The thousands and 
hundreds of thousands contributed at the same time, to give 
bounties for enlistment and to provide for the families of 
those who volunteered, to say nothing of what went dui'ing 
the war to the Sanitary Commission, and the Christian 
Commission, and directly to favorite regiments and com- 
panies and individuals, would make an amount simply 
incredible. It should be noticed in regard to the loans 
made to the State, that the Governor's drafts upon the 
banks were in this form : " Sir — This will be presented 

by through whom I propose to avail myself *of 

your patriotic offer of money to aid the State amid the 
present national calamities. Honor such drafts as he may 
draw on you and charge the same to the State, for the 
final payment of which 1 hold myself personally respon- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 131 

sible" — thus pledging his private fortune and personal 
credit for all they were both worth. 

The newspapers of the time and later records are full 
of information showing how troops were raised ; how 
readily the people understood what to do, and how to do it, 
though neither the general government nor the State 
government could render them much assistance ; how 
every city, town and village undertook the work and suc- 
cessfully accomplished it. Governor Buckingham had 
been very apprehensive of a more serious state of things in 
prospect than was generally supposed. This conviction 
was deepened especially by the result of the Peace Con- 
vention, when he became satisfied that the South would 
secede, and would fight, and fight fiercely, unless they 
could secure new guarantees for slavery, which they failed 
to secure. His letter to the President somewhat later, in 
regard to the extra session of Congress about to be held, 
suggesting legislation which he deemed necessary, and es- 
pecially his urgent recommendation to raise a much larger 
army than was proposed, if we ever expected to put down 
such a rebellion, shows how well he apprehended both the 
spirit and the resources of the South. In his opinion it 
was to be no " sixty-days' " affair, nor to be finished up by 
"three-months' volunteers," nor by 75,000 men. Hence 
his recommendation of a force that seemed extravagant at 
the time showed his just appreciation of the present state 
of things, and his rare forecast of the future. 

In prospect of such a state of things, the Governor, as 
early as January, had issued an order, as commander-in-chief 
of the militia of the State, calling attention to the " impor- 
tance of filling up their ranks by enlistments, of a careful 
inspection of their arms and equipments, and being ready 
for such service as any emergency might demand." When 
the crisis carbe, and even before his call for troops was 
issued, on Sunday, the very day after Sumter fell, and 



132 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

before any call for volunteers from either the President or 
the Governor could reach them, the people of Winsted had 
been invited from their pulpits to meet that evening in their 
largest hall, " to consider the duties of patriots in the pres- 
ent emergency." They were all actuated by the same 
loyalty to the government and love for the Union, and 
guided by the same good sense. For when a gentleman 
of prominence and political influence offered a resolution 
in favor of withdrawing the United States troops from the 
forts within the seceded States, the proposition was received 
only with scorn and indignation. Instead of this, they 
prepared and signed an address to the Governor, requesting 
him to " adopt such measures as would give him an oppor- 
tunity to place the resources of the State at the disposal of 
the general government," and with it went a list of one 
hundred young men, volunteering to go to the war. When 
the company came into camp, as it soon did, there was 
found, as a private in its ranks, Hon. John Boyd, a graduate 
of Yale College in 1821, the historian of his town and late 
Secretary of State, with his minister, Rev. Hiram Eddy, 
who became chaplain of the regiment. * The next day a 
similar meeting was held in New Britain, where the j)eople 
pledged themselves to support the constitutional govern- 
ment, and offered their services to the Governor, and 



* It is said of this " white-haired John Boyd," who remained with his company 
and lived in the barracks until the regiment was sent into the field, that he was 
importunate to go with them but "no one could be induced to pronounce him 
young enough for military duty, and he went reluctantly Lome." Rev. John Pier- 
pont, however, the distinguished Unitarian minister and poet of Boston, a native 
of Connecticut, and graduate of Yale in 1804, was allowed to go, and marched into 
Virginia, at the age of seventy-six, as chaplain of the Massachusetts Twenty-second. 
As showing how all classes and ages breathed the same spirit : " The first to enlist 
in that Winsted company, and the youngest, was Samuel B. Home, a private, 
seventeen years old, who was quite small of his age, and would have been rejected 
had it not been for his importunity. He served faithfully during t e three-months 
service, re-enlisted and bore a mu?ket as private for eighteen months and was then 
promoted to a captaincy. He was in twenty-five battles, and was wounded three 
times, and served at the close of the war as provost marshal of the Eighteenth 
Army Corps. Two of his uncles were oflBcers in the English army, oce of them on 
Wellington's staff at Waterloo."— [" Comecticut in the Tla/'," pp. 46 and 7C. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 133 

through him to the President of the United States, " for 
the maintenance of our beloved government," with a list of 
seventy-eight volunteers. In Danbury the citizens assem- 
bled at the court-house in large numbers and resolved that 
" the administration must be supported in suppressing the 
rebellion." And here, probably, the first town provision 
was made for the support of the families of volunteers, a 
plan that so soon became well-nigh if not quite universal. 
Here an excellent company, the " Worcester Guards," Cap- 
tain Wildman, offered its services to the governor two 
days in advance of his call. Nelson L. White, a prominent 
lawyer of Danbury, entered the ranks as a private, though 
he was soon promoted to be major of one regiment and 
then lieutenant-colonel of another. Waterbury promptly 
recruited her company of city guards, under Colonel Chat- 
field, and sent them into camp, while the Irish Roman 
Catholics assembled and fifty of them voted to volunteer. 
Bridgeport sent one company composed wholly of Germans, 
while almost every company in camp contained more or 
less soldiers of foreign birth. Hartford, which had been 
so prompt and generous in providing funds for the war, 
was no less so in furnishing men. And this was the intro- 
duction of so many prominently and honorably into mili- 
tary life that it is worth while to recall the development of 
some of them : — 

Upon the reception of the Governor's first proclamation, Joseph R. 
Hawley, a Republican, Albert W. Drake, a Democrat, and Joseph Per- 
kins, met in the office of the Hartford Press, of which Hawley was 
editor, and after discussion of the situation signed an informal enlist- 
ment paper as volunteers in the First Regiment, and issued a call in 
the morning paper for men to join in a rifle company. Before sunset 
the minimum had enlisted, and at a great meeting in the evening, 
presided over by Lieutenant-Governor Catlin, the company was filled. 
In this company was only one man who had ever seen service on any 
field, and only two who had ever been in the militia. The command 
of the company was offered to and accepted by George H. Burnham, 
lieutenant-colonel of the First Connecticut Militia. Hawley became 



184 WILLIAM A. HUCKINGHAM. 

first lieuteiKint and Drake second lieutenant, Perkins Roinj^ into the 
ranks as a private. Captain Burnliani soon becaino colonel of the 
First, and afterwards of the ''"vventy-socond. Lieutenant Ilawley, 
ultimately briijadier, an<l brevet-major-general, and afterward {Gov- 
ernor of the State, and then senator in Congress. Lieutenant Drake, 
colonel of the Tenth, died in service, and Private Perkins became 
colonel of a United States colored regiment. — ["^Connecticut in 
(he War." 

Another Hartford company, " the City Guard," immediately 
vohnitoorcd and filled vip its ranks, while a third was organ- 
ized and soon went into camp. Colonel Samuel Colt also 
offered to raise a reiriment and arm it with revolving hreech 
ri(l(>s of his own manufacture. His j)urpose was to have 
every man some six feet high and a good shot, — a regiment of 
sharpshooters. But on account of some disagreement as to 
the use of such irregular arms in the service, and other 
reasons, the regiment, numbering nearly 700 men of this 
class, was disbanded, though many of them were afterwards 
incorporated into other companies, particularly those that 
went to make up the Fifth Regiment, under the command 
of Col. Orris S. Ferry, who afterwards became Governor 
Buckingham's associate senator in Congress. 

Nor were the other cities and towns of the States behind 
Hartford in their propoitionate liberality and ])romptness to 
respond to the call for troops. The first war meeting in 
Norwich, the home of the Governor, was held as soon as a 
single day's notice could be given of it, when the people 
came together as a mass, at 10 o'clock in the morning, and 
after subscribing a fund of $20,000, set about raising 
troops. The very next day Frank S. Chester, bookkeeper 
in the Thames bank commenced a company, and enlisted 
sixty-live men before night, who took the name of the 
" Buckingham Rides."' 

The following account of Captain Chester and his company as they 
left for the front, is given in the newspapers of the day: "'One of 
the companies comprising the Second Regiment of the Connecticut 
troops which have just left for the seat of war, is the ' Buckingham 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 136 

Rifles,' of Norwich. Captain Chester, who is tlie son of Rev. Dr. 
Chester of Buffalo, was a clerk in one of tiie hanks in Norwich, and 
having been educated in a military school, set out to raise a company. 
It was Friday morninf? after the surrender of Sumter, and before 
nif^ht he had raised one. He put them under drill at once and 
drilled them through Saturday and Sunday and Monday, when at 
night he fainted and fell upon the floor of the drill-room. They 
were to leave for New Haven the next day, when some one said to 
him: ' Why, Chester, you can't go to-morrow— you mustn't go.' 'I 
shall go if I am carried,' was his reply. And the next day he 
marched to the cars at the head of his company, pale and weak, lean- 
ing on the arm of the Governor, followed by the hearts and prayers 
of the whole city. This incident may be worth remembering till we 
hear again from Captain Chester and his Rifles." 

From this time volunteering never faltered, and the re- 
sult showed the quality of the men who offered their ser- 
vices to the government. * New London promptly raised 
her $10,000, and her " City Guards" filled up their ranks 
" to be ready to march at a minute's notice." Mystic, a 
flourishing little shipbuilding village in that vicinity, 
raised funds generously and sent twenty-four young volun- 
teers to the Fourth Regiment; while the " Mallory Boys,'* 
sons of one of the principal shipbuilders, offered their 
yacht of a hundred tons bui'den to the government free of 
expen.se during the war, and she was accepted. " Old 
Windham county," the papers say, " has not been so much 
aroused since Putnam left his plow in th^ furrow and de- 
parted for Lexington in 1775," and at a mass meeting held 
at the shire town of the county and presided over by ex- 
Governor Cleveland, an old Democrat, -15,600 was subscribed 
for war purposes and sixty men raised in thirty minutes. 
The neighboring towns all partook of the same spirit and 
sent their quotas into camp. 



* The Governor may have been thought to have bes'owed his commissions 
pretty liberally upon the citizens of his own town. But this list of names will in- 
dicate the wisJom of bis s lection : Brig. Gen. Daniel Tyler; Brev. Brig. Gen. 
Henry W. Birge ; Biig. Gen. Harland ; Brev. 'ien. William G. Ely ; Brev. Brig. 
Gen. Alfred P. Ko kwell ; the last fnur of them, out of five, having eniered the 
service from civil life; not to speak of others who filled with equal ability and 
fidelity the lower positions assigned them. 



136 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

There were three camps of equipment and instruction 
established in the State : " Camp Buckingham," at Hart- 
ford ; " Camp Aiken," at Norwich, and " Camp Brewster," 
at New Haven. The men of the region were not neces- 
sarily sent to the nearest camp, but to the one where a 
regiment was being filled up, so that the first regiment to 
be mustered in, and the first to go to the front being that 
so vigorously started at Hartford, was equipped and drilled 
in the camp at New Haven. New Haven also afforded 
certain facilities for the drilling of troops which the Gov- 
ernor had not been slow to avail himself of. General Russell, 
a graduate of Yale in 1833, had built up there a large and 
successful classical and military institution, which fur- 
nished any number of drillmasters. It was amusing to 
see these mere boys putting those stalwart men, college 
students and professors, through their exacting and weari- 
some drill. But it was so valued that it was willingly 
submitted to, and by many who could never expect to be 
called into actual service. 

Daily contact with soldiers and the daily sight of the vacant places 
of undergraduates, tended to make the Yale students restless and 
uneasy. "We must be ready for the next call," they said. Each class 
became a military company with frequent drills and creditable dis- 
cipline. The same feeling prompted the organization of the " Gradu- 
ate's Guard," students of theology, law, medicine and philosophy, 
with the learned professors of the college, who became all at once 
obedient and patient students in the scliool of the soldier. These 
drills were far from fruitless. The older members one by one 
dropped out, but the rest drilled regularly and with good i)rogress. 
The next call was made, and we sent to the front our full quota. 
Another call came, and a third. We gave our sturdiest and best, 
until nearly one-half of the graduate's guard were soldiers of the 
Republic." — [" Connecticut in the War,^^ p. 76. 

And what was true of this college was also true of the 
other two colleges of the State. In the Fourth Regiment, 
afterwards organized and encamped at Hartford, was 
almost an entire company known as the " Wesley.'m Guards," 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 137 

and mostly made up of students in Wesleyan University, 
while the students of Trinity College were found scattered 
through the different regiments. 

As New Haven was the first to offer the Governor funds 
with which to raise troops, she immediately set about fur- 
nishing men and equipping them, and providing for their 
families. As soon as the call for troops came, a mass 
meeting was held, the mayor presiding, and all parties par- 
ticipating, at which it was recommended that the Common 
Council appropriate -110,000 for the families of volunteers, 
which was done, only the amount was doubled. 

Of private benefactors, one of the earliest and most thoughtful was 
Mr. Thomas li. Trowbridge of this city, who, before a C(jmpany was 
formed, offered $500 for the support of the families of volunteers 
during their absence, which at the outset was to be for only three 
months, thus beginning a course of unstinted liberality, which he 
continued throughout the struggle, and initiated that great patriotic 
charity which, continued by private individuals, and finally adopted 
by towns and states, extended help to all the families of absent 
soldiers. Mr. David Clark of Hartford rose in the first war meeting 
there, and offered to support one hundred families of volunteers dur- 
ing the war. This work was virtually taken off his hands by a vote 
of the town soon after, but his patriotism and benevolence found no 
check, until directly and indirectly he had given the sum of $tiO,000 
to the work of prosecuting the war. — [" Connecticut in the War.'^ 

Mr. James Brewster was another eminently patriotic and 
benevolent citizen ol New Haven, after whom their camp 
was named. He uniformed and equipped throughout one 
of the companies of the city, the " Brewster Rifles, " besides 
being an important adviser and helper in the whole work 
of raising troops. 

Upon the arrival of the first volunteers at New Haven, 
they had to be quartered in public and private buildings, 
and their officers and friends were obliged to provide for 
them until the State could do it. Happily, they found such 
friends as we have spoken of, in all their places of encamp- 
ment, and these, with their fellow-townsmen and friends 



138 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

at home, furnished them with comforts, and even luxuries,, 
such as soldiers never had before. They came from all 
parts of the State. They came as companies, some of them 
organized and with well-filled ranks; more in squads, repre- 
senting; the contribution of some town, or village, or neigh- 
borhood, but all anxious to get into the field. They came 
here especially because the First Regiment was to be fitted 
out here, and as this was the only regiment then called for, 
they were afraid they might never be wanted. They hoped 
that they might at least get the places of such as were 
rejected, or induce some who had been accepted to let them 
become their substitutes. So universal was this spirit in sup- 
port of the Union that within one week after the call for a 
single regiment was made, three regiments were in camp, 
and within three weeks fifty-four companies had tendered 
their services to the Governor, being five times the quota 
of the State under the President's call for 75,000 troops. 

Such was the response of the State, and from every part 
of it, to the call for volunteers and their equipment for the 
field. It certainly was not for the compensation that so 
many enlisted, when the pay of a soldier was only twelve 
'dollars or so a month, with perhaps one hundred or two 
hundred dollars bounty. So strong and so pure was the 
patriotism of our people, that other considerations were 
generally lost sight of. War was not popular. The War 
of the Revolution we honored and the men engaged in it, 
because we had a right to such independence, and secured 
self-government, and were teaching the world how it could 
be safely administered. But the war of 1812 was regarded 
as less necessary, while the Mexican war was an abomina- 
tion to the North because waged in the interest of slavery. 
It was even difficult to keep up a few military companies 
for public display and escort duty, and to support the police 
in case of a mob. Many felt that such " fuss and feathers '* 
seemed childish in full-grown and sober men. Ihit here 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 139 

was a necessity which nothing but. military organization 
could cope Avith. The government was in danger, and if it 
was a good government and worth preserving, what else 
could an intelligent and conscientious people do, but defend 
it, and fight for its defence when it had become absolute! v 
necessary ? What a pity the South could not have under- 
stood us a little better, and instead of regarding us as onlv 
mean spirit(3d and money loving, could not have conceived 
of us also as having ordinary good sense, and some con- 
science, and a little liberality when great expenditures were 
demanded ! Where was their sagacity and statesmanship 
that did not even suspect us as possessed of such qualities, 
before they encountered them so recklessly? At any rate, 
from this old New England State, with its history of the 
Revolution, and its Puritan Governor, and traditional love 
of lil)erty, and devotion to free institutions in both State and 
church, what else could have been expected, than such an 
"uprising of the people " in such an emergency? It was 
this tide of liberty and loyalty sweeping over the North, so 
high and resistlessly, that filled up the Grand Army of the 
Republic. Even New York city, which appeared so badly 
in the "Peace Convention," where every concession was to 
be made to Virginia, and additional guarantees given to 
slavery ; even she was swept from her feet before such a 
spirit, and forgot the interests of trade, and the confisca- 
tion of her dues at the South, to proffer her troops and 
wealth and business ability to the government, as freely 
as anv of us.* 



* Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, in his memoirs of his father, General John A. Dis, gives a 
strik n<j illustration of this, when describing the effect upon the city < f the ariival 
of ihe Massachuset's Sixth Regiment, the first troops sent from the North for the 
relief of Washington : ' Never to my dying day shall I forget a scene witnessed on 
Thnrsda", Ap il 19, three days aft -r the PresiJent's first call for troops. A retriment 
had arrived from Massachusetts on its way to Washington va Baltimore. They 
came at night, and it was u'lderstood tbat after breakfasting at the Astor House, 
the march would be lesumed. By nine in the morning an immense crowd had 
assembled about t e hotel. Broadway, from Barclay to Fulton s'reet, and the 
lower end of Park Row were occupied by a dense mass of human beings all. 



140 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The equipment of troops was a difficult matter at the 
outset of the war. Massachusetts had become the envy of 
the other States, because at the recommendation of Gov- 
ernor Andrew she had armed and thoroughly equipped two 
of her regiments in anticipation of such need of them, as 
soon came, and one of them, the famous Sixth, had been of 
immense service in pushing its way through Baltimore, 
when Pennsylvania troops were compelled to turn back. 
They had no arms, and it was unwise to encounter such an 
infuriated and well-prepared mob as well-armed troops 
could scarcely resist. So every effort had to be made in 
Connecticut to supply such deficiencies. The Governor on 



•watching the front entrance, at which the rejiiment was to file out. From side to 
side, from wall to wall, extended that innumerable host, silent as the grave, expect- 
ant, something unspeakable in their faces. It was the dead, deep hush before the 
thunderstorm. At last a low murmur was heard ; it sounded somewhat like a 
gasp of men in suspense, and the cause was that the soldiers had appeared, their 
leading files descending the steps. By the twinkle of their bayonets about the 
heads of the crowd, their course could be traced out into the open street in front. 
Formed at last la column they stood, the band at the head, and the word was given, 
'March!' Still dead silence prevailed. The drums rolled out the time; the regi- 
ment was in motion. And when the band, bursting into full volume, struck up— 
what other tune could the Massachusetts men have chosen '/— ' Yankee Doodle ! '—I 
caught about two bars and a half of the old music, not more, for instantly there 
arose a sound such as many a man never heard in all his life, and never will hear; 
such as is never heard more than once in a lifetime. Kot more awful is the thunder 
of heaven, as with sudden peal it smites into silence all lesser sounds, and rolling 
through the vault above us fills earth and sky with the shock of its terrible voice. 
One terrific roar burst from the multitude, leaving nothing audible eive its own 
reverberation. We saw the heads of armed men, the gleam of their weapons, the 
regimental colors, all moving on, pageant-like ; but naught could we hear save that 
hoarse, heavy surge, one general acclaim, oue wild shout of joy and hope, one end- 
less cheer, rolling up and down, from side to side, above, below, to right, to left, 
the voice of approval, of consent, of unity in act and wil. No one vsho saw or 
heard could doubt how New York was going. The North was rising, and the ques- 
tion was often asked by those who were watching events, 'How will New York 
go? ' There were sinister hopes in certain quarters of a strong sympathy with seces- 
sion movements ; dreams that New York might decide to cut herself off from the 
rest of the country and become a free city. These hopes and dreams vanished in a 
day. The reply to the question ' How will New York go 'i' was given with a hearti- 
ness and energy altogether worthy of her." If any other answer to that que-tion 
was needed, it was given again the next day with the same unanimity and deter- 
mination, when the Seventh New York Regiment, the pet of th-j city, the best 
representative of its culture, wealth, business energy, noble character, marched 
down the same Broadway, through just as great a .crowd, and with as many and 
sincere expressions of devotiou to the government. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 141 

his own responsibility had purchased knapsacks, cartridges, 
boxes and bayonets for one or two regiments, but the State 
had on hand only 1,020 United States muskets of the latest 
pattern, together with about 2,000 more that were not very 
serviceable. Reluctant to send any of his troops into the 
field with such imperfect arms as these last, he set about 
procuring better from any and every quarter. Finding a 
lot of 800 Sharp's rifles, manufactured for the Egyptian 
government, and not paid for, he and Lieutenant-Governor 
Catlin advanced the money and bought them. In connec- 
tion with Governor Andrew he sent an agent to Europe, 
where a few thousand muskets of poor quality, and at a 
high price, were obtained. It was only, however, as they 
could be manufactured here, that the army came to be sup- 
plied with such as were satisfactory. The United States 
armory at Springfield came to turn out daily, before the war 
was over, 1,000 breech-loading rifled muskets of the best 
pattern, enough to arm a fresh regiment every night. The 
country, however, could not wait for this, and so the first 
troops were many of them armed with Sharp's, Maynard's 
and Colt's rifles, the best of any, only it was objectionable 
to have such irregular arms in use, where uniform ammuni- 
tion was so necessary. It was not long allowed ; only the 
flank companies of some of these regiments were permitted 
to retain their rifles, which sometimes proved greatly to their 
advantage. Furthermore everything had to be collected, 
much of it manufactured, and even the soldiers' uniforms 
were got up in hot haste, by liberal citizens who offered 
the cloth, and patriotic tailors who cut it, and women 
equally patriotic and generous who made it up into gar- 
ments From Rockville the news comes that their '• com- 
pany will leave and go into camp in a day or two, and tbat 
all the cloth has been purchased, and all the tailors are 
cutting it, and the ladies with sewing machines and needles 
are making up the uniforms. " " The ladies of New Haven 



142 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

have resolved to supply all deficiencies in uniforms, and 
worked by scores so diligently, that within ten days they 
have finished and distributed more than 500 full sets. " 
At Hartford, the committee in charge of such supplies 
acknowledge the receipt of " two hundred pairs of panta- 
loons, " and say they need " one hundred and fifty more as 
soon as possible, and the quartermaster general acknowl- 
edges the receipt of one hundred and eighty shirts made by 
the ladies of Hartford. " Such business, even in a peace- 
loving and Christian community, was deemed a " work of 
necessity and mercy," fit for the Sabbath. The Monday 
paper says : " Yesterday, all the churches sang the patri- 
otic tune ' America, ' the ministers preached patriotic ser- 
mons, while one hundred and fifty ladies worked on haver- 
sacks for the troops. " Some kinds of equipments were so 
difficult to be obtained that the papers contained this 
advertisement : " There is such a scarcity of swords and 
epaulets, that those who are in possession of such articles 
are requested to sell or loan them to meet the pressing exi- 
gency. " But everything was provided, and if the Con- 
necticut troops did not reach Washington as soon as some 
others, they were more fully equipped than most of them. 
Indeed, General Scott's exclamation when the First Con- 
necticut Volunteers arrived, was : " Thank God, here is 
one regiment ready for the field ! " 

In such a spirit and under such disadvantages was the 
work of furnishing troops to the general government car- 
ried on, and with such success. Before the First Regi- 
ment was sent forward, two more were ready to take its 
place if needed, for the first three were only allowed to 
enlist for three months. After that the government 
allowed them to be enlisted for three years, or during the 
war. During that early period little else was done or 
thought of except to furnish all the troops that might be 
needed to put down secession and save the government. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 143 

So general, and almost universal was this disposition, that 
political differences and party feeling were well-nigh 
swallowed up in the general patriotism. Though party 
lines and political principles were not distinctly renounced 
any more than by Senator Douglas when he pledged his 
support to President Lincoln in putting down the rebellion, 
there were many " war Democrats '' and a number of 
Democratic papers in the State, who sustained the Gov- 
ernor and his party in their war measures as earnestly as if 
it were their own party that had adopted them. True, 
there was a " Peace Party " at first that threatened trouble, 
and there were a few indiscreet politicians and papers that 
made utterances which were little less than treasonable. 
But this so grossly belied the position and sentiments of 
the people at large that it could not be long kept up. The 
single fact that, as soon as the Legislature came together, 
and it was proposed to sanction all that the Governor had 
done to raise troops for the war, and to put 12,000,000 
into his hands with which to raise 10,000 men, no oppo- 
sition whatever was made to it, shows how patriotism 
had risen above all partisanship. Ex-Governor Seymour 
did indeed refuse to accept command of one of the regi- 
ments offered him, but General Deming accepted it, 
though of the Democratic party, and of equal prominence 
in it. So, too, General Deming declined to preside at the first 
war meeting in Hartford, while Mr. James E. English, who 
was afterwards Democratic Governor of the State, addressed 
the war meeting in Nev^ Haven, saying that, " all party 
lines were to be obliterated, and all Northeners should be 
Unionists, heart and hand." It was the unanimity of this 
principle and sentiment, as well as the fervor of such 
patriotism, which made volunteering so brisk, and con- 
tributions to the equipment of troops so unstinted. 

These were stirring times in Connecticut, the last two 
weeks in April which followed the fall of Sumter, and not 



144 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

merely in her activities, but in lier anxieties also. The 
Massachusetts Sixth Regiment had just passed through the 
State, where thousands flockfd to the depots in the niiiht to 
see the first troops going to the war, and through New 
York city to awaken unbounded enthusiasm there. Then 
came the news of the attack upon that regiment in Balti- 
more, and how they were obliged to fight their way 
through the city.* Then the railroad bridges in Maryland 
were burned, and all communication cut off from Washing- 
ton, so that there was no knowing for a few days whether 
the capital had not been taken and burned ; nor on its 
part what was being done at the North for its relief. In 
this state of things Governor Buckingham regarded it as 
absolutely necessary that such communication should be 
reopened, and was the first to find that the capital was 
safe, though threatened, and to give the President the 
joyful intelligence that the North was thoroughly roused, 
and would soon send him relief. Monday morning, April 
22, two days after the attack upon the Massachusetts 
troops, the Governor sent his son-in-law. General William 



* The Sixth Regiment of the Massachusetts Militia gained Us distinction by the 
promptness with which it responded to the first call for troops, and its good disci- 
pline and humane conduct under the provocations of the mob at Baltimore. The 
President's call was issued the Monday after Sumter fell, the governor's followed 
the same afternoon, and Tuesday morning found the companies from the neigh- 
boring towns mustering on Boston Common. The captain of one of them sum- 
moned at the last moment to fi.l up the regiment, did not receive his summons 
until Wednesday morning, when it found him in bed, and to the question, " When 
can you and your company report at headquarters ? " answered, "' At eleven o'clock 
this morning." And they were allihere at the time, a thousand strong, and the 
whole regiment were armed and equipped that day, and left at eight o'clock in 
the evening. It was at midnight or soun after that such crowds welcomed them at 
Springfield, Hartford and New Haven, and the next morning that New York was so 
fired by their patriotism as they passed through the city. The morning after, the 
morning > f th.at fatal Friday, they had left Philadelphia before daylight ft r Baltimore, 
and before noon were fighting their way through that infuriated mob, where two of 
theii- number were shot dead and thirty-six more were wounded. And the same 
afternoon at five o'clock they reached Washington, to be welcomed by 5,000 people, 
who escorted them to the Capitol, where they were quartered in the senate chamber. 
As an indication of the spirit of the North, r.o wonder it ent a thrill of patriotism 
throughout the nation, and caused a chill of despondency if not of fear to the 
South, that the capital was to l,e relieved before they could capture it, or carry out 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 145 

A. Aiken, with instructions to. reach Washington if pos- 
sible with official dispatches, and bring back the orders 
of Government. As nothing could furnish a better idea 
of the state of things there, and of the helpless and de- 
spondent condition of the government, we give General 
Aiken's account of the matter — Finding a gentleman in 
Philadelphia undertaking the same journey, they pushed on 
together until they reached the Susquehanna river, where 
communications were interrupted. Here they found that 
General Butler had just seized steam ferryboats, and taken 
his own Massachusetts troops and the New York Seventh 
Regiment around Baltimore to Annapolis. Here they 
crossed over in an old fiatboat to Havre de Grace and 
hired a man to carry them in his wagon to the city. Spies 
and traitors were plenty, imprecating curses upon all 
Yankees. Here the narrative 2"oes on to say: — 

The brilliautly illuminated streets of Baltimore were alive with 
people, some in uniform and generally wearing the rebel badge upon 
their coats. On arriving at a hotel, we retired almost immediately to 
our rooms, and there remained till morning. What I saw and heard 
in the crowded halls convinced me that no avowed Union man could 
be safe there for a momient. 



some of the other important parts of their proirramme. This regiment also had in 
other respects an honorable record, for it re enlisted when its three-months' term 
of service was over, and served faithfully to the end of the war. And when Balti- 
more had to be taken possession of by the general government and put under 
martial law, though this was a part of the force stationed there, no one ever heard 
of any relaxation of their good discipline, nor manifestation of resentment toward 
a community by whom they had been so badly treated. The truth was Maryland 
was more than half a Secession State, and Baltimore had an irreso.ute mayor, a 
large '" i)lug-ugly "' element, and a treasonable city marshal, who soon joined the 
Confederacy, while the positions taken by both the authorities of the city and the 
state had been simply ridiculous if they had not been so treasonable. These troops 
must not go through the city, and they must not land in the State. They were State 
troops called into the service of the government, and if a State ass-rts its right to 
rob the government of its ultimate means of support and defence, there is no other 
way to deal with it but to apply martial law. This is what General Batler fell back 
upon when he landed at Annapolis in spite of the protests of the governor. And 
this was the position Mr. Lincoln so rdluctantly took after being harassed by so 
many Baltimore and Maryland committees. General But':er was sent with some 
Massachusetts troops, and among them a detachment of the same regiment that 
had been assault d in th? streets of Baltimore, to encamp upon Federal Hill, where 
they had the city completely under command. 



146 WILLIAM A. HOrKlNGHAM, 

Through the politeness of the i)roprietor, we were enabled to obtain 
passes, signed by General Winder, and countersigned by Marshall 
Kane, both bitter rebels, permitting us to pass out of the city limits. 
By paying $50 we engaged a carriage to convey us to Washington, our 
number having been increased by three. We might not have been so 
fortunate about the passes had it not been that the proprietor was a 
personal friend of my companion, and also a sympathizer with the 
distinguished officials wielding temporary power. 

The travelers stopped to bait their horses half way 
between Baltimore and Washington, and this furnished an 
opportunity to a lot of Secessionists to insult and threaten 
them. The narrative then proceeds : — 

We arrived at Washington at 10 p. m. on Wednesday the 24th. The 
unbroken silence of its hotels and apparent desolation of its streets, 
brought vividly to mind the contrasting scenes of the evening pre- 
vious. Half a dozen persons crowded around me in the hall to ask 
questions about the North, and I then realized the complete isolation 
of the city. I hastened to the headquarters of General Scott to deliver 
a dispatch. It was 11 o'clock at night. I found the general attended 
only by two members of his personal staiY. 

After reading the Governor's paper, he rose, and said excitedly: 
'* Sir, you are the first man I have seen with a written dispatch for 
three days. I have sent out men every day to get intelligence of the 
Northern troops. Where are the troops?" His excited manner and 
the number and rapidity of the questions that followed, impressed 
me fully with the critical nature of the situation. 

I afterwards went to the house of Mr. Cameron, secretary of war, 
who at once admitted me to an audience in his bedchamber. His 
inquiries were of the same nature, and conveyed a sense of great inse- 
curity. The situation was indeed alarming. The district was sur- 
rounded by hostile territory, the spirit of rebellion being during these 
few days as rampant in Maryland as in Virginia or South Carolina. A 
friend in the treasury department advised very strongly against my 
return by the same route, as my arrival was already marked, and the 
general nature of my business suspected by the rebel spies that lurked 
in every street, hotel and department. 

At 10 o'clock next morning, I called upon the President, and saw 
him for tlie first time in my life; an interview I can never forget. No 
office seekers were besieging his presence that day. I met no delay. 
Mr. Lincoln was alone, seated in his business room upstairs, looking 
towards Arlington Heights through a wide-open window. Against 
the casement stood a very long spyglass or telescope, which he liad 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 1 4T 

obviously just been using. I gave him all the information I could from 
what I had seen and heard on my journey. He seemed depressed be- 
yond measure, as he asked slowly and with marked emphasis: " What 
is the Xorth about? Do they know our condition?" "Xo,"' I answered, 
" they certainly did not when I left '" He spoke of the non-arrival of 
the troops under General Butler, and of ha^^ng had no intelligence 
from him for two or three days. Having delivered my dispatch and 
the Governor's words of encouragement, and having enjoyed an 
interview protracted by the desire of the President beyond ordinary 
length, I took leave. 

The sense of the insecurity of the capital, and of that good man's life, 
has never again come over my spirit with such weight as then. From 
the President's words and looks I saw what a moment of golden oppor- 
tunity that was to the conspirators. Only a handful of regulars, a 
regiment of volunteers, and Clay's band of brave men — these were all 
the loyal forces at hand. Foes were without, and their descent from 
Arlington over Long Bridge was the probability of any moment. 
Foes were within equally bitter, jostling the friends of the govern- 
ment on every pavement and in every office. Mutual confidence 
seemed dead and suspicion had usurped its place. 

I have referred to the entire separation of the city from the North. 
In no one of many ways was it brought home more practically to my 
mind than in this: the funds in my possession were in New York city 
bank notes, yet their value had suddenly departed. They were worth 
their weight in paper, no more. During the interview with the 
President my financial dilemma was referred to. I remarked that I 
hadn't a cent, though my pocket was full. He instantly imderstood 
me, and kindly put me in possession of such an amount of specie as I 
desired. Reimbursement was made on my return, with many thanks. 

Proceeding to the State Department I was informed that the ex- 
pected troops were heard from and would soon be in the city. A 
white flag on the Capitol was to be the signal of their arrival. A few 
minutes afterwards it was run up, and such a stampede of humanity, 
loyal and rebel, as was witnessed at that hour toward the Baltimore 
depot, can be appreciated only by one, who like myself took part in 
it. One glance at the grey jackets of the New York Seventh restored 
hope and confidence. On Thursday the 25th, I started northward 
with a small party thither bound. We traveled on an unfrequented 
route and crossed the Pennsylvania line southeast of Gettysburg, 
once more in the region of telegraphs, railroads and loyalty. Only on 
the Capitol at Washington had I seen the stars and stripes since 
entering Maryland. 

The successful accomplishment of my journey was to me a matter 
of more than ordinary satisfaction, for I believe there has been no 
hour since, when messages of sympathy, encouragement and aid from 



148 WILLIAM A. HUCKINClIAiM. 

the loyal Governor of a loyal State were more truly needed, or more 
effective in the mind of our kite President, than those I had the 
honor to deliver.* — " Connecticut in the YVar,^^ p. 839. 

Such a state of things shows how helpless and almost 
hopeless the condition of the general government had 
become at this time. To say that the authorities at Wash- 
ington were ''demoralized," using the term in its military 
sense, as when an army is described as having lost its dis- 
cipline and courage, would only describe them })roperly.f 



* 7> monj? the numb r of thu.se nil over the State who he'd thrir services ;it the 
disposal of the Governor, and whose services were so valuable, and to a larso 
extent gratuitously furinshed, was Colonel George L. Peikiiis of Norwich, who 
lived to be the venerable and honored centenarian of the city. Ue was sent to 
Washington immediately after C olonel Aiken, and left Washington for Baltimore 
on the first train that ran over the reconstructed road, after it had been 
broken up by the rebels. General Butler with his troops, and the Nv=w York 
Seventh Regiment, had pushed around Balt'more, by the way of Annapolis, to the 
Relay House, in the rear of the city, and from that i oint had rebuilt the road in an 
incredibly short time, and under untold difficulties. The torn-up rails must be 
found and relaid, if they had to be fished up from the bottom of some pond. It 
was one of the relievhig pleasantries of the New England troops to see how well 
that genteel city regiment did it. But that was not the worst of it, for in that hos- 
tile region and embittered state of the people, no train could be run over the road 
except at the risk of every life on board. Colonel Perkins returned by the first, 
train that left th^^ capital. And he and his friends stood over the engineer with 
pistols, prepared to shoot him down if he betrayed them. General Cass, that 
sturdy and honest old man, who had recently resigned his seat in Buchanan'.s 
cabinet, rather than risk that danger, walked by night the whole distance from 
Washington to the Relay House, some twenty miles. Colonel Perkins, with his 
commanding presence, calm courage and tact in any emergency, was well fitted 
for such a mission, and likely to succeed in it if it was not utterly desperate. 

+ That this is no overstatement of the matter appears not only from General 
Aiken's impressions, derived from his interview with the President, but from the 
later and most carefully prepared life of Mr. Lincoln, by Messrs. Nicolay & Hay : 
"Lincoln, by nature and habit so calm, so equable, so undemonstrative, neverthe- 
less passed this period of interrupted commimication and isolation from the North 
in a state of nervous tension which put all his great powers of mental and physical 
•endurance to their severest trial. General Si^ott's reports, though invariably 
expressing his confidence in successful defense, frankly admitted the evident 
danger, and the President, with his acuteness of observation and his rapidity and 
<orrectness of inference, lost no single one of the external indications of doubt 
iind apprehension. Day after day i^rediction failed and hope was deferred ; troops 
did not come, ships did not arrive, railroads remained broken, messengers failed 
to reach their destination. That one of the successors of Washington should find 
himself even in this degree in the hands of his enemies was personally humiliating, 
but that the majesty of a great nation should be thus insulted and its visible sym- 
bols of authority be placed in jeopardy ; above all, that the hitherto gloriousi 
example of the Republic to other nations should stand in this peril of surprise and 
possible sudden collapse, the Constitution be scoffed and jeered, and human free- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 149 

General Scott had lost control of even the little army that 
was left to him. The secretary of the navy hardly knew 
where to look for a ship of war whose commander he conld 
trust. President Lincoln, sweeping the heights of George- 
town with his glass, liable at any moment to see cannon 
planted there to play upon the White House and demolish 
the city, was not lacking in patient courage, but he was 
about giving up all hope. But for the loyal governors and 
the patriotic North behind them, their fears had been fully 
realized. Still, that confidence was not misplaced, for 
every one, governors and States, each without waiting for 
the other, was vying to see who could furnish swiftest and. 
most abundant relief. That assault on Sumter, that attack 
upon Federal troops at Baltimore, that refusal of the au- 
thorities of Maryland to let government troops cross her 
borders for the relief of the national capitol, that attempt 
of Virginia to capture Harper's Ferry and the navy yard at 
Norfolk, compelling their destruction, had set the North 
ablaze with more lurid flames and a more sweeping confla- 
gration, than those government works, and ships of war, and 
material for shipbuilding and ammunition — awful as those 
fires are said to have been — could fairly typify. For what 
was going on in Connecticut, was going on everywhere. 
Men were enlisting faster than they could be equipped and 
mustered in. Money was contributed more liberally than 
it could be used for war purposes. More regiments were 



dom become once more a by-word and reproach ; this must liave becot hi him an 
anxiety approaching torture. In the eyes of his countrymen and of the world he 
was holding the scales of national destiny : he alone knew that for the moment 
the forces which made the beam vibrate with such uncertainty, were beyond his- 
control. In others' society he gave no sign of these inner emotions. But once, 
on the afternoon of the 23d (the day before General Aiken arrived with news from 
the North), the business of the day being over, the executive ofSce deserted, after 
walking the floor alone in silent thought for half an hour, he stopped and gazed 
long and wistfully out of the window down the Potomac in the direction of the 
expected ships, and, unconscious of any presence in the room, at length broke out 
with irrepressible anguish in the repeated exclanmtion : "Why don"t they come! 
why don't they L-orae'.'"— ["Abraham JAncoln—A Hutory"—C€ritiiry. April. '^9!-^\\ 
p. 920. 



150 WILLIAM A. HUCKLNiiHAM. 

offered to the government and urged upon its acceptance, 
than the war department was willing to receive. 

Those signal fires once lighted up along the hills of Scot- 
land to summon the clans against invasion, were slow and dull 
compared with the electric flash that set whole cities ablaze 
with light in an instant, and thrilled .the whole North with 
patriotism and summoned to the aid of the government 
more defenders than she could use. Men of all ranks and 
conditions and nationalities volunteered for the service. 
They willingly entered the ranks when they were not needed 
as officers. Fathers sent their sons when they were too old 
to go themselves, and mothers, when they gave up a boy to 
such a necessary and noble service, sometimes wished they 
liad more to give. Sunday-school teachers and the young 
men in their classes would enlist together, and it was not 
uncommon to find a minister and his parishioners being 
■drilled together in the same company. The truth is, there 
never was such an uprising of the people, one so uni- 
versal, so in earnest, so intelligent as to the issues involved, 
or with such a conscientious determination that the inter- 
ests at stake should not suffer. Then it was on the part of 
a people who had no knowledge of war and no taste for 
fighting, but who did know that they had a good govern- 
ment and that for three-quarters of a century they had 
enjoyed under it more civil and religious freedom than any 
other people had ever enjoyed, and that the world ought 
not to lose such a successful experiment in self-government. 
They remembered at what cost this government and society 
had been founded. And in the spirit of the old Puritans 
this Puritan commonwealth, with its Puritan Governor, 
whom the people had selected for their leader, met this 
crisis of a terrible war. 

That was a remarkable little book published in France 
at the very outbreak of our war, entitled "The Upris- 
ing of a Great People." Its understanding of the real 



WILLIAM A. BOCKINGHAM. 151 

nature of the conflict, and its almost prophetic foresight of 
the final result, based especially upon moral causes, were 
its wonderful characteristics. It was written by Count de 
Gasparin, once one of Louis Philippe's cabinet, and a 
member of the Chamber of Deputies, who was compelled to 
leave France when Napoleon III came into power, and 
take up his residence in Switzerland, whence he could look 
out upon the world and watch the course of nations. 
Statesman as he was, he was quick to discern the signifi- 
cance of Mr. Lincoln's election, and saw in it the ultimate 
if not speedy overthrow of slavery. As a philosopher, too, 
he understood the power of righteousness and freedom 
when matched against oppression and wrong, and where 
there was so much liberty of thought and speech and 
action as in this country, he could not doubt which would 
conquer. But more than all, as a Christian he had 
weighed the moral forces of the universe, and calculated 
" the power without ourselves that makes for righteous- 
ness," and estimated the course of Providence, and the 
favor and power of the God of heaven, and the influence of 
the spirit of Christianity upon the earth, with reference to 
the final result. And while he makes no pretension to 
read the future, he does attempt to make " a distinction be- 
tween what may happen and what must endure." He sees 
in Mr. Lincoln's election "emancipation by no means 
decreed ; it will not be for a long time perhaps, yet the 
principle of emancipation is established, irrevocably estab- 
lished in the sight of all." " It may be that this struggle 
will end in the adoption of some blamable compromise, but 
whatever may be inscribed in it, the election of Mr. Lin- 
coln has just written in the margin a note that will annul 
the text. The time for certain concessions is past, and the 
South has no more doubts of it than the North. It may be 
that the slave States will succeed in founding their de- 
plorable confederacy, but it is impossible that they should 



152 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM 



succeed in making it live; they will j)erceive that it is 
easier to adopt a compact or to elect a president than to 
create in truth, and in the face of the Nineteenth Century, 
the nationality of slavery. I have therefore the right to 
affirm that whatever may be the appearances and incidents 
of the moment, one fact has been accomplished and will 
subsist: the United States were perishing and are 
saved." And while he accepts the testimony of his 
countryman, M. de Tocqueville, who had written so justly 
of our democracy, that "America is the place of all others 
where the Christian religion has preserved the most power 
over souls," he cannot admit with him that the whites and 
the blacks can never live together free, without the one 
oppressing the other, or the other being exterminated. He 
expects that the Gospel will solve even this " problem of 
the coexistence of races," as it has already done in some 
of the West India Islands. " I hope that the Gospel, ac- 
customed to work miracles, will also work this." " This 
power is the one to be found at the base of all lasting 
reforms. In that country where the idea of authority has 
little force, there is one authority, that of the Bible, before 
which the majority bow, and which is of the more impor- 
tance, inasmuch as it alone commands respect and obedi- 
ence." "Thanks to the Gospel,it is upon this I fall back to- 
solve the problem of the coexistence of races." 

Then like a Hebrew prophet, he leads us and our friends 
abroad, to expect a long and desperate struggle, but assures 
us of Divine protection and ultimate victory : " Let Mr. Lin- 
coln assure himself, and let the European adversaries of 
slavery remember as well, that it will be necessary to fight, 
and to persist in fighting." " Never was a more obstinate and 
more colossal strife commenced on earth." " But he whom 
God guards, is well guarded." " It is a fixed fact that the 
Nineteenth Century will sec the end of slavery in all its 
forms, and woe to him wlio opposes the march of such 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 153 

a progress!" The writer then goes on to say: "If you 
wish to know what the presidency of Mr. Lincohi will be 
in the end, see in what manner and under what auspices it 
was inaugurated. Listen to the words that fell from the lips 
of the new President as he quitted his native town : ' The 
task that devolves upon me is greater perhaps than that 
M'hich devolved on any other man since the days of Wash- 
ington. I hope that you, my friends, will pray that 1 may 
receive that assistance from on high, without which 1 can- 
not succeed, but with which success is certain.'" 

At the end, De Gasparin shouts to us from the heights of 
Switzerland, across the ocean, in words that embody the 
truest statesmanship, and the sublimest faith in a Divine 
government as administered over this world in the interest 
of righteousness : " Courage, Mr. Lincoln I The friends of 
freedom and of America are with you. Courage ! You 
hold in your hands the destinies of a great principle and a 
great people. Courage ! Your role, as you have said, may 
be inferior to no other, not even to that of Washington. 
To raise up the United States will not be less glorious than 
to have founded them." He saw clearer from a distance 
than many of us could here, but we had faith, if sight were 
clouded, and the event has justified all who refused to be- 
lieve, that a free people would give up the work they had 
undertaken, and so far perfected, until it should be fuUy 
accomplished. 



CHAPTER X. 

Thk Session of the Legislatuue, 1861. 

The Outbreak ol tlie War — Governor Buckingham's Prompt and 
Vigorous Support of the Government — His Pledge that no State 
Shoukl Furnish More or Better Troops — His Correspondence 
with the War Department, and Sympathy with Their Embar- 
rassments — His Remarkable Letter to the President and Ilecom- 
mendations in Regard to the Extra Session of Congress Just 
Called — His Just Estimate of the Conflict and Counsel to Make 
Greater Preparations for it — He Binds the Destinies of the State 
to Those of the General Government, and Pledges all Her Re- 
sources to Sustain the Latter — The President's Call for More 
Troops Based on the Application of the Loyal Governors — And 
he Gets Them — The Governor Recommends that the State Loan 
its Credit to the General Government, Which is Done to the 
Extent of Two Million of Dollars — Extra Session of Congress, 
July 4, 1861— Battle of Bull Run. 

The electioni of state officers and members of the Lot2:isla- 
ture took phice on the first Monday in April, and the Legis- 
lature was convened, and the Governor inaugurated, the first 
Wednesday in May. The Governor in his message treated 
as briefly as possible of state affairs, but dwelt at lengtli 
upon the peril threatening the nation, and the duties of the 
state in such an emergency. This part of the message is 
as follows : 

" When the President of the United States made requisitions for 
troops to suppress combinations against laws, the Executive found 
himself without legal authority to obey the requisition. We had no 
enrollment as required by the laws of the general government, and 
the state had neglected to point out the mode of designating our (luota 
of troops. Under these circumstances no alternative was loft but to 
convene the General Assembly, or to appeal to the patriotism of the 



WILLIAM A. BUOKIN(}HAM. 



155 



people for volunteers. The former course would have involved so 
much delay that I had no hesitation in adopting the latter. 

"The threatened seizure of the city of Washington by men organ- 
ized in armed rebellion; the authoritative announcement that tJie 
President of the revolted states was about to issue letters of marque 
against the citizens of loyal states; and the infuriated and murderous 
attack upon Massachusetts troops while passing through the city of 
Baltimore to the defence of the national capital, created an emer- 
gency which, evidently called for prompt and energetic action. I 
therefore at once issued a call for a larger number of troops than was 
named in the requisition of the President. The response given from 
«very section of the state, of offers of men as well as of money, showed 
that the fires of true patriotism were kindled in the hearts of the 
people, that they were fully aroused to a sense of the impending 
■danger and determined to defend their liberties at every cost or at 
any hazard. 

"I have already accepted the services of forty companies, am organ- 
izing them into regiments, appointing their regimental olHcers, and 
■ordering the purchase of whatever appears to be requisite to guard 
our sons from hardships incidental to the life of a soldier, and to 
render them efficient in the service of their country. They were with- 
out uniforms and camp equipage, for which I have incurred large 
Tesponsiblities. In doing this, I have received tlie hearty co-opera- 
tion of our citizens, including ladies, wlio have labored with patriotic 
zeal to make clothing for the troops and to supply them with other 
necessaries. 

"While communication with the national capital was interrupted, I 
despatched special messengers to the President and Secretary of War, 
for the purpose of giving information respecting the conditions of our 
troops, offering the services of the volunteers, as well as to receive 
«uch directions as were needful for efficient co-operation with the 
government. 

" I have given orders for the troops to be in readiness to move, but 
have waited for instructions from the War Department before direct- 
ing their march. It is manifestly far better for the cause that our 
troops remain as they are until their services are required at some 
point where they will occupy their true position in the general plan, 
rather than move without a definite object, when by so doing they 
will be in danger of embarrassing the government, and may fail of 
taking an active part in the conflict. Recent information from the 
War Department justifies this position. 

"I ask your early attention to the course which I have pursued 
•during this emergency, believing that any right or necessary act will 
receive your sanction." 



156 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

This matter certainly received the '' early attention " of 
the Legislature, for while their attention was called to it on 
the first day of their session, on the third day the subject 
had been referred to a committee, a bill perfected, reported,, 
and unanimously adopted, not only approving of the course 
pursued by the Governor, buo putting 12,000,000 at his dis- 
posal for the purpose of raising; t'-oops, and authorizing him 
to enlist 10,000 men. This was all prompt work. To have 
raised forty companies in fifteen days, when only ten were- 
called for from the state, and to have collected funds^ 
enough from voluntary contributions and the appropriations 
of towns to have them in camp, well-nigh armed and 
eqiupped, and under drill, awaiting the call of the general 
government — a new business for New England people to be 
engaged in ; and to have done it so harmoniously, where 
party lines were not effaced nor party politics extinct — 
was a remarkable achievement. The explanation is, that 
a people unused to war and devoted to peaceful pursuits 
were compelled to fight if they would save their government 
and liberties, in which they had been so blessed, and without 
which there would be little left of public value. The ruin 
which threatened them was a common one, which must bo- 
averted before they could consult their political differences^ 
and preferences. When a town is burning up, neighborhood 
quarrels are forgotten. The leading Democrats of Con- 
necticut, to a greater extent than in some other states, had 
become " War Democrats," and were co-operating cordially 
and vigorously with their political opponents in maintaining- 
the government and the Union. On the other hand, the; 
Governor and his party meant to be as fair and conciliatory 
toward them as possible. Several of them had been ap- 
pointed by the Governor delegates to the late Peace Conven- 
tion at Washington. They were offered commi-^sions in the^ 
regiments, especially when they had any peculiar qualifica- 
tions, or experience in military affairs, like ex-Governor- 



WILLl.A.M A. BUCKINGHAM. 157 

■^Bymour, who had served in the Mexican war, but declined 
ihe command of a regiment, which Colonel Henry C. Dem- 
ining subsequently accepted and performed honoraljle ser- 
vice at New Orleans, after having been a leading and useful 
member of the then Legislature. The state of mutual con- 
sideration and co-operation in that body is well exhibited in 
its action upon the death of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, 
which occurred during its session. The Republican Speaker 
of the House. Hon. Augustus Brandegee, announced the 
■death of Senator Douglas, and paying him a just tribute of 
respect, declared '• the loss of such a man. at such a crisis, 
to be an unspeakable calamity." To this Colonel Demming 
responded in a set of resolutions and a glowing tribute of his 
own to the great Dem:>cratic leader, ending as follows: '• 1 
cannot close, Mr. Speaker, without expressing the thanks of 
my mourning comrades and myself for the generous and 
magnanimous manner in which you have initiated these 
solemnities. Long and late may it be, sir, in these days 
when the mighty are falling, pillars of state tottering on 
their base, the temple of liberty almost crumbling in the 
•dust, long may it be, before your l)anner is dropped and the 
coronach wailed over any chieftain of your clan. Long may 
it be ere we are called upon to imitate your spirit, and 
reciprocate your kindness on the present occasion." 

There were, to be sure, at this time indiscreet and dis- 
loyal utterances from individuals and the press, and the 
Oovernor had felt obliged to call attention to the proper 
limits of individual opinion and disloyal and dangerous 
speech, while two years later, in the most discouraging 
period of the war, there came to be more of ir, and more 
efficient means had to be taken to check the mischiefs of it. 
But in this early stage of the war there was surprising 
harmony in the Legislature and among the inhabitants of 
the state in raising troops and funds for the support of the 
general government. That first act of the Legislature, 



lf,>^ WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

against which not a single vote was cast in either house, 
was the noblest tribute that could be paid to the patriotism 
of the state, and both parties are entitled to their full share 
of it. As was said by the Hartford "Courant" when the 
bill was adopted, and seemed to express the general senti- 
ment of the state : 

" This bill authorizes the enlistment of 10,000 men liable at all times 
to be turned over to tlie service of the United States on the order of 
the fjfovernment, fixes the mode and term of their payment, legalizes 
appropriations from towns and cities, and appropriates $2,000,000 to 
their support. It passed the Legislature without a dissenting vote. 
In the house, Messrs. Burrall of Salsbury, Demming of Hartford and 
Gallagher of New Haven spoke in favor of it on the Democratic side, 
■while Messrs. Carpenter of Killingly, Wooster of Derby and Thomp- 
son of Suffield made explanatory and patriotic speeches in its favor. 
The bill reposes much confidence in the Governor, and relieves from 
heavy responsibilities incurred without express law, but from the best 
of motives. It indicates respect for the man, and is a practical com- 
pliment which a Coninecticut Legislature rarely pays. The whole bill 
is a departure from oidinary policy, vparranted only by the solemn 
exigency of the occasion. It indicates unmistakably that Connecticut 
is ready to do her utmost to uphold the government and preserve the 
Union." 

No wonder the Governor wrote at once to the President^ 
informing him of the action of the state, and of the determi- 
nation of her citizens to fulfill the pledges he had made to 
the government in their behalf : 

( " State of Connectiout, Executive Department, 
( 11 AKTFOKD, May 3, 1801. 

" Dear Sir: The General Assembly of the state has placed $2,000,- 
OOO at my disposal for the purpose of organizing, equipping and arm- 
ing the militia of the state, and for mustering them into the service 
of the United States. Allow me to say that this appropriation was 
made by the unanimous vote of both houses, and indicates the senti- 
ment of the citizens of this state, and their determination in the 
strongest and most positive position which you will assume in defence 
of the authority of the government. I am, dear sir, 

" Yours with high consideration, 

" William A. Buckingham, 
"To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States." 



WILLIAM A. UUCKINGIIAM. 159 

The dangerous condition of Baltimore and the disloyal 
position which Maryland seemed likely to assume led the 
Governor to send one of his aides soon after with the follow- 
ing communication to the President : 

j " State of Covxkcticut, Executive Department, 
I Hartford, May 13, 1861. 

" Dear Sir: The disloyal spirit which still exists ia Baltimore, and 
the unsettled condition of public sentiment in Maryland respecting 
the present aspect of affairs, leads the citizens of this state to appre- 
hend increasing danger to our national Union unless the military 
force be augmented so as to take complete possession of Baltimore 
and every avenue leading to that city. For this purpose, as well as 
for the purpose of strengthening the power of the government, ena- 
bling it to overcome every enemy to its rightful authoi'ity, this state 
is desirous of placing a still larger military force at your disposal. I 
will therefore be obliged if you will advise me through the bearer, 
Colonel Aiken, of the number of regiments which you will receive 
from the state for your service, or of any other way in which we can 
aid the general government in this trying emergency. 

" I am, dear sir, with high regard, 

" Your obedient servant, 

•' William A. Buckingham." 

The Grovernor's correspondence and communications with 
the departments at Washington throughout all this period 
show the hesitation, embarrassment and perplexity which 
prevailed there, while the loyal governors and states were 
doing their utmost to relieve them and encourage them to 
call for more troops and larger loans from the people. And 
perhaps nothing can give a better idea of the state of things 
both here and there than some of this correspondence. 

It was impossible at the beginning for anybody to believe 
that such a war was upon us as came. The South never 
will be so foolish as to risk all upon such an issue, we 
said. And the North never will fight; they love money too 
well, and will put up with anything rather than interrupt 
business ; besides they are a mean, craven-hearted people, 
was said of us. And when the war was begun, we said : 



160 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Yes, South Carolina has been rash enough to defy the gen- 
eral government and resort to arms. But will the other 
slave states join her in it, particularly Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, who have such love for the Union, or even Georgia, 
which seems so reluctant to join the Confederacy ? Besides 
we have always compromised such matters, and always 
must. A three-months' war is all we need to provide for, 
and by that time things will have adjusted themselves. In 
the meantime the Confederacy had been organized, F'ort 
Sumter had been taken, Harper's Ferry and the Norfolk 
navy yard had been destroyed to save them from capture, 
and Virginia was preparing to capture if not to destroy 
Washington. Then there was neither army nor navy of 
any consequence, lioth had been intentionally crippled 
and scattered beyond reach when needed, by Southern 
influence under previous administrations. The national 
treasury had also been depleted by those in charge of it, 
and the national credit so im[)aired that a government loan 
could only be effected, if at all, upon usurious terms. Then 
troops, if raised in any great numbers, could not be armed, 
either by the states or the general government. Massa- 
chusetts had indeed two regiments ready for the field when 
the first call came, and one of them forced its way through 
Baltimore, when Pennsylvania troops were obliged to fall 
back and return the way they came because they had no 
arms whatever. And how could the general government 
furnish them when the Northern arsenals had been stripped 
and the arms sent South, where they had been secured for 
the Confederacy which had also occupied many of our great 
forts and arsenals, thus robbing the government of so much 
of its heavy artillery and most important munitions of war. 
No wonder there was embarrassment and more or less con- 
fusion at headquarters. Besides, there seemed to be three 
heads to the army — the President, the Secretary and Cen- 
eral Scott — and arrangements made with one were liable to 



WILLIAM A. BUCKIN(JHAM. 1(51 

be set aside by the others. The general government cer- 
tainly was slow to understand either the spirit or the re- 
sources of the Rebellion, and it was not until our humili- 
ating defeat at liuU Run that the Executive, and Congress 
and the whole North realized the greatness of their under- 
taking and rose with becoming spirit to meet the emergency. 
When Mr. Lincoln found himself encouraged by the loyal 
states to take his more positive and advanced positions, 
and that there was to be no lack of men or money to 
maintain the government, we know how he rose to the level 
of his high responsibility, and to his prudence added the 
rarest statesmanship, the calmest courage, and supreme 
devotion to the truest interest of the nation. 

The following letter was addressed to the Secretary of 
War, when the state sent her first regiment into the field. 
Though not forwarded so soon as others, unlike most others 
it was completely equipped and ready for actual service. 
Its condition in this respect was what called forth General 
Scott's remark upon its arrival : " Thank God ! here is one 
regiment all ready for the field ! " And for a while after it 
reached Washington, its army wagons were kept busy in 
hauling supplies for the troops that had no means of trans- 
portation. The four regiments first sent into the field, even 
when it was so difficult to obtain arms, equipments, and 
supplies, were well provided with them. Each regiment 
had its twenty-four baggage wagons and ambulances, be- 
sides horses for most of the line officers. One regiment 
was armed with Minie rifle muskets, another with Sharps 
rifles, and the other two with the regulation musket, except, 
the two flank companies, which had the Sharpe rifle. There 
were, of course, objections to having such different arms in 
the service, but it was a necessity then. The wisdom of 
arming the flank companies with repeating rifles was shown 
by the effective use of them on more than one occasion, as 
in the repulse of the Confederates at Plymouth, N. C. 



162 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

5 " State of Connecticut, Executive Depaktment, 
] Haktfokd, May 10, 1861. 

" Sir: I have the honor of inf ermine; you that the First Regiment 
of Connecticut Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Daniel Tyler, 
sailed last night in the steamer Bienville. The regiment is well fur- 
nished with tents, baggage wagons and camp equipage, and is ready 
for encampment. 

" I am, dear sir, with high consideration, 

" Your obedient servant, "Wm. A. Buckingham. 
" Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War." 

The next letter to Secretary Cameron shows that some 
misunderstanding had occurred in regard to the number 
and character of troops that would be accepted by that de- 
partment. The Governor was anxious to send three-years' 
men, instead of those enlisted for only three months, con- 
fident that they would be needed for a longer period. To 
obviate the difficulties belonging to such a short term of 
service, he had recommended to the Legislature and re- 
ceived authority to go on organizing three-months' regi- 
ments, and keeping them in camp under drill, to be put into 
the field, one after another, as they should be needed, be- 
sides asking permission to enlist them for three years, or 
the war. He also had the opportunity, as he supposed, by 
the generous offer of Colonel Samuel Colt, of putting into 
the regular army a regiment of accomplished riflemen, 
armed with the most effective modern rifles, though the 
plan failed on account of dissatisfaction in the regiment 
with the terms upon which only it could be effected. Then, 
again, he could always raise more troops than would be 
accepted, and refusal to accept them discouraged volunteer- 
ing. Finally, it would seem, that when arrangements were 
made with one department of the government, they were 
liable to be understood differently by another department or 
some one else in the same department, and hence embarrass- 
ment. Not that there was necessarily friction and bad feel- 
ing engendered by it, but it shows how imperfectly organized 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 163 

this department of the government then was, and the per- 
plexities and embarrassments liable to grow out of it. 

St-ite of Connecticut, Executive Department, ) 
Hartford, May 18, 186L ) 

Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War: 

Dear Sir:— Your favor of the 16th is at hand, in which you say, 
" One regiment is assigned to your State, in addition to the two regi- 
ments of three months." You also add : '* Let me also earnestly recom- 
mend to you, therefore, to call for no more than three regiments, of 
which one only is to be sent for three years, or during the war, and if 
more are already called for, to reduce the number by discharge." 

Allow me to say that this communication presents the subject in 
a different light from that in which I had been acting. The position 
of matters stands in this manner with me : l''ou first made a call for 
one regiment for three months. I called that, and, independently of 
your action, organized two others for three months, and tendered 
their services to the War Department. I then went to Washington 
and stated my position, first to General Scott, as I first saw him, and 
he said the department could use the three-months' men to advantage, 
but wanted men for three years. I told him that if he would accept 
the two regiments already organized, I would organize two more to 
take their places when their time should expire. He said under the 
circumstances, and with such assurances, the department would 
accept them. 

I called on your Excellency the next day, and merely stated in a 
very brief manner my business, and understood your Excellency to 
say that you had decided the previous day to meet my wishes in the 
matter. I did not enter upon any explanation at length, but, as your 
decision had been based upon the arrangement made with General 
Scott, I felt that I could not be mistaken in regard to the number of 
regiments to be raised. I accordingly returned to send forward, as 
soon as they could be made ready, the two additional regiments for 
three months, and the two others for three years. I was also desirous 
of tendering the government a third regiment, enlisted for the war, 
to be furnished with and drilled in the use of Colt's breach-revolving 
rifle, with the further idea that the same would eventually be incor 
porated into the regular army. My design, in communication with 
Colonel Colt, who tenders and offers to arm the regiment, without 
expense to the government, is to make that regiment the best and 
most complete of any offered by any State, and to drill them at the 
expense of this State, until they shall be thoroughly prepared for 
actual service. For this purpose I dispatched Colonel W. A. Aiken 
to inquire whether you would accept such a regiment in addition to 



lG-4 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

the two for three years. The verbal message brought by Colonel 
Aiken was that the department would accept the regiment of riflemen 
on the above conditions. 

I have therefore acted in accordance with the above understanding, 
and the third regiment for three months embarked to-day for Wash- 
ington on board of the Cahawba. The fourth regiment, or the first 
for three years, has rendezvoused in this city, and is ready to be mus- 
tered into service. And I trust your Excellency will direct Colonel 
Loomis to pei-form this service. The regiment of riflemen is also 
rendezvoused, and we are now^ drilling the men by companies, but do 
not propose to have them mustered into service for fifty or sixty days. 

I need not say that if in my desire to render essential service I 
have been the means of embarrassing the government, it will cause 
me deep regret. My desire is to have this State cooperate with your 
department in the most thorough and efficient manner. 

With this statement I only beg to confirm the views herein expressed 
to your Excellency with the assurance that no State, large or small, 
shall send you better troops, or stand by you in all your embarrass- 
ments and perplexities more firmly than this Commonwealth.* 
I am, dear sir, with high consideration. 

Your obedient servant, 

William A. Buckingham. 

Somewhat later another letter is addressed to the Sec- 
retary of War, asking permission to raise still more troops,, 
with only the assurance that they will be accepted if raised » 
and a little later a still more earnest communication through 
General Tyler is made to him, which shows how discour- 
aging it was to volunteering, to have men enlist and then 
not be able to get into the field. 

State of Connecticut, Executive Department, I 
Hartfohd, July 2^, 1861. f 

Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War: 

Dear Sir: — It is the earnest desire of the citizens of Connecticut to 



* This misunderstanding having occurred between the Governor and the Secre- 
tary of War, as to the number of troops he might send forward, lest Secretary 
Cameron should feel annoyed or hurt, the Governor appreciates his perplexities^ 
and assures him that, "If in my desire to render essential service, I have been 
the means of embarrassing the government, it will cause me deep regret. My 
desire is to have this State cooperate with your department in the most thorougti 
and efiBcient manner." Then came that noble pledge which follows— a pledge in 
behalf of himself and his State that must liave been so welcome to the govern- 
ment at such a crisis : IIow well it was redeemed by both, let the history of tht- 
war testify ! 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 165 

iiid and sustain the government in this enaeigency. I am anxious 
to raise one or two more regiments for the war, but am disinclined to 
issue the necessary orders without previous assurance from the War 
Department of the acceptance of the troops, by reason of the 
uncertainty which has hitherto existed as to whether the regiments 
which Connecticut has raised were to be accepted. I should be glad 
to be informed whether your department would accept one, two, or 
three regiments from Connecticut for three years, and upon informa- 
tion will be prepared to comply with your suggestions. 

Connecticut does not intend to be behind any of her sister States in 
active exertions for the cause of her country. 

I am very respectfully yours, 

William A. Buckingham. 

To General Daniel Tylki:, 
First Brigade, Connecticut Militia, 
Washington, D. C. 

Norwich, August 7, 1861. 

Sir: — I have just received an order from the War Department to 
raise one regiment for the three now discharged and about to be dis- 
charged. Will you see the Secretary of War at once and obtain an 
additional order for three more, making four new regiments, and 
urge upon him the following considerations: 

First. It will be easier to raise four, or more, than one. The 
chance that new companies will be accepted under a call for one is 
so small that men will not make efforts to organize themselves and 
run that hazard. But if I was willing to raise from six to ten, the 
whole State would be actively engaged. 

Second. A large proportion of the men who are now being mus- 
tered out of the sei'vice will be ready to return to the war. 

Third. Many of our citizens are leaving the State and joining com- 
panies in the other States. One company in this city, accepted by me 
two months ago, has become discouraged in waiting for a call from 
the War Department, and last week between thirty and forty enlisted 
in a New York regiment. 

Fourth. Public opinion favors a large additional force from the 
State, and if the services of our citizens are not accepted, then there 
will be danger of a change of sentiment so great that when future 
calls shall be made it will be difficult to respond without resort to 
conscription. 

Fifth. Our citizens desire and earnestly solicit the privilege of 
furnishing their quota of troops at such a crisis as this, and if we 
should send in proportion to the call made upon New York, Illinois, 
and some other States, I think our quota would not be less than eight 
or ten regiments. 

I beg you to assure Secretary Cameron that in the jierformance of 



16G WILLIAM A. 1JUCK1N'<;HAM. 

his duties he has my hearty sympathy, and my earnest desire to 
cooperate with him in the best and most effective manner for the 
restoration of the government and the Union. I am, dear sir, 

Yours with high esteem, 

William A. Buckingham. 

An extra session of Congi'ess liad been called for the 
4th of July. The President had filled up the standing 
army to its complement of 25,000, when it had been re- 
duced to half that number; had enlisted 16,000 sailors for 
the extemporized blockading squadron, and called for 
75,000 of the State militia as the nucleus of a new army. 
He did not feel at liberty to go further, without the 
sanction and co-operation of the representatives of the 
people. Nor was he sure how far the North would respond 
to such calls for troops and loans. He depended upon 
representative men, particularly the loyal governors, for 
information and advice, and courted their counsel and 
suggestions. Governor Buckingham had known Mr. 
Lincoln since 1858, when the latter rendered such im- 
portant service in the State canvass of that year, which 
was his first, and in reality his only introduction to New 
p]ngland. With this acquaintance, and the readiness with 
which he received and the frequency with which he sought 
his advice, the Governor was justified in expressing hia 
opinions as positively as he did, even to the extent of 
expostulating with the administration for not rising to a 
higher conception of the perils of the hour, and doing 
justice to the loyalty of the free States by calling upon 
them more freely for whatever was needed to put down 
promptly and effectually that rebellion. Thus he wrote ta 
the President as follows : — 

State of Connecticut, Executive Depaktment, ( 
Habtfobd, June 25, 1861. ( 

To Abraham Lincoln, Pbesident of the United States: 

Sir. — The condition of our country is so critical that the people of 
this State are looking with deep interest to the measures which you 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 16T 

may recommend to Congress, and to the course which that body may 
pursue, when it shall convene on the 4th of July next. You will 
not therefore think me presuming if I present for your consideration 
the views which I believe are entertained by a majority of our 
citizens, especially when I assure you that if tliey are not approved 
by your judgment, I shall regard it as evidence that their importance 
is overestimated. 

There are to-day probably more than 300,000 organized, armed men 
in rebellion against the general government. Millions of other 
citizens who have been protected by its power, now deny its. 
authority and refuse obedience to its laws. Multitudes of others, 
who prize the business they have secured under its policy, are so 
overawed by the manifestations of passionate violence which sur- 
round them, that their personal security is to be found in suppressing 
their opinions, and in floating with the current into the abyss of 
anarchy. The persons and property and liberty of every citizen is 
in peril. 

This is no ordinary rebellion: It is a mob on an organized scale, 
and should be met and suppressed by a power corresponding with its 
magnitude. The obligations of the government to sustain its dignity 
and to protect the loyal, and the principles of equity and justice; the 
claims of humanity, civilization and religion unite in demanding a 
force sufficient to drive out the rebels from every rendezvous; to 
influence them to return to their homes and their lawful em- 
ployments; to seize their leaders and bring them before the proper 
tribunals for trial, and to inflict upon them the punishment fairly 
due for their crimes. I trust you will ask for authority to organize 
a force of 400,000 or 500,000 men, for the purpose of quelling the 
rebellion, and for an appropriation from the j>ublic treasury sufficient 
for their support. 

Let legislation upon every other subject be regarded as out of time 
and place, and the one object of suppressing this rebellion be pre- 
sented by the administration with vigor and firmness without taking 
counsel of our fears, and without listening to any proposition or 
suggestion which may emanate from the rebels, or their representa- 
tives, until the authority of the government shall be respected, its 
laws enforced, and its supremacy acknowledged in every section 
of the country. 

I trust you will also assure the country that it is no part of the 
duty of the administration, nor is it your design to interfere with the 
domestic institutions of the States, but on the contrary any con- 
stitutional right, whether it comes from the institution of slavery or 
not, shall receive the protection of the general government under 
your administration. 

To secure such high public interests, the State of Connecticut will 



168 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

bind her destinies more closely to those of the general government, 
and in adopting the measures suggested, she would renewedly pledge 
all her pecuniary and physical resources, and all her moral power. 1 
am, dear sir. 

Yours with high regard, 

William A. Buckingham. 

One passage from the President's message to the extra 
session of Congress, shows how he accepted and followed 
out such counsel. He says : — 

Having been convened on an extraordinary occasion, as authorized 
by the Constitution, your attention is not called to any other subject 
of legislation. It is now recommended that you give the legal means 
to make this contest a short and decisive one; that you place at the 
<;ontrol of the government for the work at least 400,000 men and 
-^400,000,000. 

This was promptly done, only the President was author- 
ized by Congress to call out 600,000 men, the highest 
number Governor Buckingham recommended, and 100,000 
more than the President dared ask for. The truth was the 
President and the War Department and the Treasury 
Department were for a long time afraid to call for the men 
and money they needed, fearing the people would not finally 
honor their frequent and vast demands. But their fears 
were needless, as some of the heaviest calls for troops 
showed. 

One of our Northern governors, who had the means of 
knowing the exact state of things at the North, and with 
the departments at Washington, which continued essentially 
the same for the next year, furnishes us with the following 
information : — 

Immediately after the battle of Antietam, September 16, 1862, 
several of the governors of loyal States felt deeply the need of more 
troops in the field and were getting quite restive under the apparent 
lack of sufficient numbers in the Union army to meet successfully 
the rebel forces This weak side of our cause was so apparent to 
some of us who were governors of the loyal States, much in earnest 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 169 

to have everything possible done to crush the rebel cause, that we 
^•ere led to frequent con-espondeuce about it. I wrote with serious 
earnestness and expostulation to the President, representing that the 
government was just there lagging behind the intense zeal and deter- 
mination of the loyal people of the country, and that in my opinion 
we ought to have double the number of troops in the field that the 
Union armies could then muster, and that the j^eople would hail with 
approval an immediate call for a very large accession of troops, and 
that, so far as our State was concerned, if the question of funds to 
arm and equip the new volunteers was a cause of embarrassment and 
delay to the general government — knowing that this did trouble the 
authorities at Washington oftentimes greatly in those daj-^s — we would 
put our quota of a new call into the field, armed and equipped for 
immediate service, at the expense of the State, and wait on the gov- 
ernment for reimbursement till such times as it was in funds. 

I knew full well that I was but expressing the views and wishes of 
j'our good brother, Governor Andrew, and several others of my con- 
temporaries in office. Mr. Lincoln was glad to get my letter just at 
that time, as he said the authorities at Washington hardly knew how 
the loyal States would receive a fresh call for volunteers, being, as 
they were, advised so many different ways by those hanging around 
in Washington, many of whom were border State men, or "peace-at- 
any-price men," or men too timid to meet the exigencies of the 
times, and so the authorities were pondering over the thing with 
more or less hesitation how to act. But the President at once 
dispatched Provost-General Simeon Draper to see and talk with me, 
and have a letter to the President drawn up, such as the loyal gov- 
ernors would be willing to sign, recommending an immediate call for 
new volunteers, and which letter General Draper was to take with 
him, calling upon your brother, Governor Andrew, Governor Morgan, 
and two or three others on his way back to Washington, and then 
obtaining the assent of all other governors, whom he could not call 
upon, by telegraphic communication. A call for 300,000 volunteers 
soon followed, a letter recommending the same, and signed by all the 
loyal governors, being published as part of the President's call. 

It happened that matters of urgency in my own State prevented me 
from attending the meeting of the governors at Altoona, though I 
knew and highly approved of the object of the meeting. The gov- 
ernors of the loyal States were a harmonious family of officials then, 
one common and great cause making us brothers in feeling. We all 
had great respect for and confidence in President Lincoln, but some- 
times grew a little restive under what we felt was too great caution 
and delay on his part. But perhaps he was the wiser of the lot. At 
any rate, take him for all in all, he was a great, unique and wonderful 
man. He thought a good deal of getting letters and suggestions 



170 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

from us touching the interests of the Union, and always urged us to 
write to him at any and all times when we had suggestions to> 
offer, and he always replied promptly to the same with grateful 
acknowledgment. 

Thus it will be seen, that the service of the loyal gov- 
ernors during the war, was not merely in raising troops- 
with which to prosecute the war, but also in suggesting,, 
advising, and encouraging the general government in 
respect to its policy and plans. These governors understood 
one another, and were well agreed as to what ought to be 
done, and might be done, and it was no small part of their 
work to induce the general government to adopt certain 
measures, as well as pledge their States to help carry out 
those measures. By meetings and correspondence this was 
done to a greater extent than the public were aware of. 
Knowing that they could not publicly assemble without 
having their plans known or suspected, and made known to 
the enemy as well as to friends, they quietly secured such 
conferences as they could. Once there was a meeting of 
the Western governors in one of the Western cities. At 
another time, several of them met at Providence, at the 
commencement of Brown University. Still later with 
more distinct and decided purpose quite a number of them 
were found going in opposite directions upon the Pennsyl- 
vania Central railroad, and dropping off over night at 
Altoona on the summit of the Alleghenies. They had met 
to urge Mr. Lincoln to issue his emancipation proclamation,^ 
which he had promised to his friends. He seemingly sus- 
pecting their purpose, headed it off by issuing his procla- 
mation to meet them there the next morning. But there 
were no cross purposes between them, only mutual con- 
fidence and co-operation. Happily there was no crank 
among these governors, for those were sober times, and 
they had been chosen for their patriotism, sound judgment 
and sturdy principles. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 171 

One of the important services which these governors 
were able to render the general government at the outset 
of the war, was not only to raise means for the organiza- 
tion of their own troops, when the government had neither 
arms, funds nor credit, to any great extent, but by means 
of State loans, to improve the credit of the general govern- 
ment. At the session of the Connecticut Legislature in 
May, the Governor addressed to them a special message 
ujion this subject. Fortunately the State had no debt of 
any account, and the Governor had just stated that the 
debt of $70,000 which he found when he came into office, 
had been paid, with the exception of a balance of $7,000. 
The State, too, had good credit, and could make loans on 
better terms than the general government. For who could 
be sure that the general government would survive the 
war, any more than the Confederacy did, though the States 
might ; or that when the war debt of the general govern- 
ment was being rolled up at such a rate, it would be any 
better able to pay its loans than the Confederacy was ? 
The Governor recommended raising by direct tax what- 
ever was needed for '• the organization and equipment of a 
volunteer militia for the public defense." But for other 
expenditures which must be made, and for which they 
would "be reimbursed by the general government," he 
advises a State loan, and that the bonds of the State be 
exchanged with the Treasury Department of the United 
States for their stocks or bonds at par. This would give 
the general government the benefit of the better credit of 
the State, as well as furnish it at once with the funds so 
much needed, besides identifying irreparably the interests 
of the States with the general government, and those of 
the general government with the States. The reasons for 
such a recommendation are given in his special message of 
May 21, 1861. 



172 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The market for public stocks furnishes evidence that inimodiate 
payment for necessary expenses cannot be made without serious loss 
to the general government, a share of which must eventually be 
borne by the citizens of this State. Such loss can in a measure be 
prevented by manifestations of confidence in and fidelity to the 
general government, and especially by a pledge of credit by loyal 
States to and in maintaining its authority. This will not require 
pecuniary sacrifices, or hazard any public interest, for it is evident 
that if the general government cannot be maintained, the value of 
private securities and almost every description of property will be 
greatly depressed. I would therefore recommend your honorable 
body to authorize bonds of the State to be issued to an amount even 
larger than the sum which will be due from the government for ex- 
penditures to which I have referred, and that you direct the proceeds 
to be exchanged with the Treasury Department of the United States 
for their stock or bonds at par. Such a measure would elevate 
public credit, and assist the government in negotiating further loans, 
and bind us more closely to the Federal Union. 

This recommendation was adopted, and was one of those 
helps which any of the States, the smallest as well as the 
larger, could render the nation in her greatest emergency, 
and aided in carrying her successfully through the con- 
flicts of that fierce war. It makes one think of Admiral 
Farragut's device in his capture of Mobile, by which ho 
made fast each ship of war to some ordinary steamboat, 
that if the former was disabled the latter might at least 
tow it into the fight. 

The extra session of Congress which had been called 
came together on the 4th of July, and very soon occurred 
the disastrous battle of Bull Run. As the first important 
battle of the war, and the first for which any comprehensive 
plan and considerable preparation had been made, it was a 
great victory to the Confederacy and a sad humiliation to 
the North. Still the Count of Paris, a most intelligent and 
impartial military critic, in his history of the war, styles 
it " a misfortune, and not a disgrace to the Federal arms." 
The nearly equal numbers engaged on each side, and the 
nearly equal losses, show that the battle was bravely fought. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 173 

while the capture and defense of Washington, which was 
the gage of battle, was not won by the South. Had the 
Union forces inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Confed- 
erates, a truce probably would have been brought about, 
and some more compromises agreed upon, to have put off 
the final settlement of the great issue for another genera- 
tion or two, and then with what hope of getting rid of 
slavery and at the same time of preserving the Union. As 
it was, it made the South more self-confident and arrogant 
than ever, and no arrangement was to be thought of which 
did not give slavery all the privileges of freedom every- 
where, and change this from a free republic to a slave 
republic. Then the idea of so many at the North, that " in 
three months or sooner," the conflict would end, was shown 
to be a delusion, while the South were made so confi- 
dent of their final success, the North found that if their 
republic was to be preserved it must be by a patriotism 
and by sacrifices such as they had not yet dreamed of. We 
can see now that we were all under higher tutelage than 
our own wisdom, or any human statesmanship, and that 
God was leading us in this dreary way to the land of peace — 
permanent peace. 

The extra Congress was in session when the battle of 
Bull Run was fought. And this body, instead of taking 
counsel of their fears, or of the fears of others, rose with 
heroic spirit and wonderful unanimity to the height of their 
great enterprise, and led the way which proved to be the 
right one, and which the nation bravely followed. Though 
the Secession States were no longer represented, there were 
enough left who sympathized with the South, or were 
opposed to coercion, or were afraid that slavery would be 
harmed, to throw every obstruction in the way of any 
vigorous prosecution of the war. 



174 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The resolution in the Senate expelling from that body Messrs. 
Mason, Clingman, Wigfall and others, who were openly attempting 
the overthrow of the government, was vigorously resisted. An 
attempt was made to attach to the Army Appropriation bill the pro- 
viso, "that no part of the money hereby appropriated shall be 
employed in subjugating or holding as a conquered province any 
sovereign State now or lately one of the United States, nor in abolish- 
ing or interfering with African slavery in any of the States." Keso- 
lutions were offered condemning as unconstitutional the increase of 
the army, the blockade of the Southern ports, the seizure of tele- 
graphic dispatches, the arrest of persons suspected of treason. As 
had been the case in the House in the instance just referred to, so in 
the Senate on the occasion of the bill for the reorganization of the 
army, an amendment was proposed *' that the army and navy should 
not be employed for the purpose of subjugating any State, or reducing 
it to the condition of a territory or province, or to abolish slavery 
therein.'' This was by Mr. Breckinridge, recently vice-president of 
the United States, and shortly to be a general in the Confederate 
service. When the bill freeing slaves who had been used in aid of 
the insurrection was before the Senate, it met with earnest opposition 
because "it will inflame suspicions which have had much to do with 
producing our present evils; it will disturb those who are now calm 
and quiet, inflame those who are restless, irritate numbers who 
would not be exasperated by anything else, and will in all probability 
have no other effect than this. It is therefore useless, unnecessary, 
irritating, unwise." — Draper's " Civil War," Vol. II, p. 1S4. 

In spite of all such obstructionists, and as putting an end 
forever to all further attempts to give rebels the rights and 
privileges of loyal citizens, Mr. McClernand, a Democrat 
of Illinois, offered this resolution in the House of Repre- 
sentatives : ' This House hereby pledges itself to vote for 
any amount of money and any number of men which may 
be necessary to insure a speedy and effectual suppression 
of the rebellion, and the permanent restoration of the 
Federal authority everywhere within the limits and juris- 
diction of the United States," — which was passed by a 
vote of 121 to five. The spirit of the Senate was rep- 
resented by Senator Baker, the patriotic and brilliant 
representative of .California, who fell a few weeks later at 
Ball's Bluff, when he said : " I propose to put the whole 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 175 

power of this country, arms, men and money, into the 
hands of the President. He has asked for $400,000,000 ; 
we will give him .$500,000,000. He has asked for 400,- 
000 men ; we will give him 500,000 " — which was done. 
The work of the special sessions is thus summed up in 
" Draper's History of Our Civil War " : — 

After a session of thirty-three days Congress had accomplished its 
■work. It had approved and legalized the acts and orders of the 
President; it had authorized him to accept half a million of volun- 
teers; it had added eleven regiments to the regular army; it had 
raised the pay of the soldier to thii-teen dollars a month, with a 
bounty of one hundred acres of land at the close of the war ; it had 
authorized the building and arming of as many ships as might be 
found requisite ; it had appointed a committee to take charge of the 
construction of ironclads and floating batteries ; it had facilitated 
the importing of arms from abroad by the loyal States; voted 
^10,000,000 for the purchase of arms, and undertaken to indemnify 
the States for all expenses they might incur in raising, paying, sub- 
sisting and transporting troops; it had authorized the President to 
close the ports of entry at his discretion; to declare any community 
to be in a state of insurrection and to prohibit commercial inter- 
course with it; it had provided that, after proclamation by him, all 
property used or intended to be used in aid of the insurrection 
should be seized and confiscated, and especially if the owner of any 
slave should require or permit such slave to be in any way employed 
in military or naval service against the United States, all claim to him 
or his services should be forfeited by such owner; it had appro- 
priated §227,938,000 for the army and 842.938,000 for the navy, and it 
had made provision for these appropriations by imports and tax- 
ation, and authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow 
$250,000,000. 

With a firmness which recalls the action of the Eoman senate, on 
the day after the disastrous battle of Bull Run, while the demoralized 
wreck of the national army was filling the streets of Washington, 
and the victorious Confederate troops were momentarily expected, 
the House of Representatives resolved "that the maintenance of the 
Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the enforcement of 
the laws are sacred trusts which must be executed ; that no disaster 
shall discourage us from the most ample performance of this high 
duty; and that we pledge to the country and the world the employ- 
ment of every resource, national and individual, for the suppression, 
overthrow and punishment of rebels in arms. A few days later (July 
29) the Senate passed a resolution to the same effect. 



I'fj WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

This must always seem the noblest position a people ever 
took, or could have taken under the circumstances. With 
the general government so nearly broken down, and so^ 
many, even at the North, opposed to using force to uphold it 
and prevent secession; with the- preparation of the iSouth 
to secede if Mr. Lincoln were elected, as he was, upon an 
anti-slavery platform ; with the Xorth stripped of arms, the 
treasury robbed, the fortifications and munitions of war and 
navy yards either seized or destroyed, our army reduced to 
next to nothing, the best part of our navy scattered 
over the world where it could not be used when needed ; 
when the war was inaugurated and Sumter assaulted and 
taken, and the first well-organized battle proved a disastrous 
defeat, and the very capital of the nation was in danger of 
destruction ; then to have sat in that Capitol building, as 
Congress did for a month, within hearing as it were of the 
enemy's cannon, and inhaling the very smoke of the battle- 
field, and resolving as a body, come what might, to maintain 
the government and the Union, and laying out such wise 
and broad legislation to effect this object, was more than 
Roman firmness, noble as that was, in merely sitting still to 
face the inevitable. 



CHAPTER XI. 

After the Battle of Bull Run. 

Governor Buckingham Authorized to Raise More Troops — Volun- 
teering Checked by Distrust of the Conduct of tlie War and tlie 
Influence of the "Peace Democrats" — The Magnificent Troops 
that Volunteered in Spite of all such Influence — Cliaracter and 
Destination of the Regiments — The First Heavy Artillery and the 
First Light Battery. 

The battle of Bull Run put a new aspect upon the war, 
both at the North and at the South. It put an end at the 
North to the idea that the war would be over in sixty or 
ninety days; it put a stop to the senseless cry, "On to 
Richmond ! " before we had any properly organized army, 
or suitable commander. It satisfied the North that the South 
meant not only to threaten but to fight, and had long been 
preparing for it, and was in possession of resources which, 
in addition to the sympathy they had at the North, and the 
co-operation they might expect from abroad, threatened no 
ordinary war. The effect also upon the South of success 
in their first battle, was to give them exaggerated ideas of 
their own martial qualities, disparage the principle, spirit, 
and resources of the North, and make them strongly con- 
fident of success in such a desperate undertaking. They 
would capture Washington ; they would invade the North- 
ern States ; foreign nations would now recognize the 
Confederacy ; the blockade would be broken ; their new 
slave empire would be established with unlimited de- 
velopment toward Mexico and South America ; — so the 
dream of the South for more than a generation would 
be realized. Such was the influence of that battle. But 



178 WILLIAM A. BUCKIN«iHAM. 

had the result been different and the North gained an 
overwhelming victory, we of the North would have been 
for patching up some new peace, and for the sake of 
uniting all parties at the North, giving the South new con- 
cessions and compromises for slavery. Even Mr. Lincoln, 
at this time, had not decided to make emancipation a 
condition of peace. If the government could be main- 
tained and the Union restored without that, he promised to 
attem})t no more. But when he found, as he did within a 
year, that emancipation was an absolute necessity (and 
the North was satis6ed even sooner), that the only possi- 
bility of saving either the government or the Union was by 
sweeping away utterly the only enemy to either, and the 
President under the urgency of the Northern governors 
committed himself to that position, the crisis of the war 
was reached. The North knew what to do, and the South 
what to expect, — and, under that good Providence which 
watches over a nation's destiny, as well as the sparrow's- 
fall, things moved rapidly on toward their prearranged 
result. Such a struggle between moral forces like these 
was not likely to go wrong in the end, any more than 
Christianity was to be swept away by Jewish unbelief and 
pagan power, so long as apostles and martyrs maintained 
it, and the Providence that raised them up continued to 
keep the succession good. Ours was a history of the 
triumph of righteousness over oppression, religious and 
civil liberty over tyranny of the soul and the body, and in 
spite of ages of struggle and countless defeats, we had 
established self-government in both church and state, and 
were making a success of it which made us the admi- 
ration if not the envy of the world. We had enough of 
the intelligence of our fathers, and of their spirit, to say 
that this successful experiment should not fail, cost what 
it might. 

Then came one great crisis of the war. Another and 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 179 

perhaps a greater came a year later, when the Peninsular 
Campaign had failed, and the Northern States were threat- 
ened with invasion. But now should we falter even in our 
disorganization and defeat ? 

The action of the Connecticut Legislature, as a sample of 
the rest, shows the spirit of the North, and forecasts the 
result. The Governor had called a special session of the 
Legislature in the autumn of that year, and his message 
shows what had already been accomplished, and what more 
the people were proposing to have done. 

The calls made for volunteers for the national defense have met 
with a hearty response, and but for the hesitancy on the part of the 
general government to accept more troops, we might have had 12,000 
or 15,000 men in the field to-day. We have, however, organized, 
equipped, sent into the field, and have now ready, nine regiments of 
infantry. Their camp equipage was complete, and considering the 
want of preparation and the haste with which they were mustered, 
their appointments were highly respectable. About 5,000 Sharps 
and Enfield rifles have been purchased, and contracts made for an 
equal number of the latter arms, which have not yet been delivered. 
Arrangements have also been made to arm, uniform, and furnish 
complete equipments for two other regiments now rendezvousing, 
and for one not yet organized. 

The Governor had been authorized to organize and turn 
over to the general government 10,000 troops. But the 
President had since been authorized to accept the services of 
500,000 volunteers. And if 12,000, the quota of the State, 
should be called for, the Governor asked for authority to 
furnish them, and in the following language appealed to 
the patriotism of the people to respond to such a call : — 

Congress, at its recent session, authorized the President to accept 
the services of 500,000 volunteers, for the purpose of suppressing 
insurrection and enforcing the laws, and required that the numbers 
furnished by the several States should be eqiialized, as far as prac- 
ticable, according to federal population. Let this number be appor- 
tioned among the truly loyal States, and the quota for Connecticut 
would be 12,000. From the knowledge we then had of the rebellion, 
that law met every conceivable necessity, and may be justly regarded 
as one of the most patriotic and liberal acts of legislation in history. 



180 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

But now the most important question which I have to present for the 
consideration of your honorable body, relates to the removal of this 
restriction, and to such further devotion of our resources to the use 
of the general government as shall add to its strength, power and 
permanency. Connecticut has not yet furnished her quota of 500,000 
troops. If she had, would it be right to cease our efforts ? If a 
father's dwelling is on fire, shall a son, deciding that he has done as 
much to extinguish the flames as any one of his brethren, stand with 
self-complacency and see the home of his childhood consumed ? 
After we shall have raised our full quota of troops, shall we see these 
States separated one from another, this national Union broken up, 
and make no further effoi-ts for public safety? Instead of inquiring 
how much we have done, shall we not inquire what more can we do? 

Fears may well be entertained that we are not aroused to our 
danger. The establishment of a Confederacy claiming unlimited 
sovereignty within our boundaries, the abandonment of the ordinary 
business and pursuits of life by large numbers of our fellow-citizens 
in the Southern States, the consecration of all their energies in mil- 
itary organization to subvert this government and to establish another 
upon its ruins, having human slavery for its chief corner stone, pre- 
sents a crisis in our national affairs upon which the continuance of 
our political existence depends. But it is a privilege to live in a day 
like this; to take a bold and energetic part in the conflict which is 
now raging between law and anarchy, and during this revolution, 
which in the onward progress of events is to accomplish the wise 
designs of an overruling Providence, exert an influence which shall 
aid in advancing this nation to such a position of strength and moral 
power, that every citizen may safely, fully, and speedily enjoy the 
blessings of freedom. 

Let us, as a people, comprehend the magnitude of the interests at 
hazard, despise the opinions and discard the policy of those who cry 
peace in the ears of our enemies, rise above party ties and sectional 
interests, and give our property, our voices, our hands and our hearts 
to the suppression of this gigantic, this groundless, this criminal 
rebellion against a government established both by human and divine 
authority. This is a high honor within our reach, a rich privilege 
which we may enjoy, and a solemn duty which God calls upon us to 
perform. 

The Legislature responded to the recommendation of the 
Governor by legislation, authorizing him to " enlist, organize 
and equip according to his discretion an unlimited number 
of volunteers, and directing the treasurer to issue additional 
bonds of the State to the amount of $2,000,000 to meet 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 181 

whatever expense might be incurred." " This liberal action,'* 
as has been justly said, "in appropriating $4,000,000 in a 
single year, and intrusting its disbursement to a single man, 
evinced an incalculable patriotism, and a confidence in the 
judgment and fidelity of the executive almost without 
parallel." 

During this session of the Legislature, there occurred one 
of those noble instances of the triumph of patriotism over 
the love of party and political ambition, which so char- 
acterized the war. The administration had proposed to 
General Benjamin P. Butler, to give them the benefit of his 
popularity with the Democratic party for the enlistment of 
additional troops in New England. This force was to be 
for a special and secret expedition under his command, 
which proved to be the capture and holding of New Orleans, 
when Farragut had forced the passage of the river. General 
Butler came to Connecticut to confer with the Governor 
and prominent citizens, among whom was his old Demo- 
cratic friend, Hon. Henry C. Deming, then speaker of the 
House of Representatives, and elected by acclamation in a 
body largely Republican. Mr. Deming accepted a commis- 
sion as colonel of a regiment to be raised for this service to 
be called "The Charter Oak Regiment," but afterwards 
known as " The Twelfth Connecticut." As showing the 
spirit and position of this gentleman, in his farewell address 
to the House, he calls their attention to the magnitude of 
the rebellion before them, and what it was threatening to 
all the great interests of the nation. He then makes this 
personal appeal to his fellow legislators and citizens, and 
with peculiar modesty and pathos announces the decision 
to which he has come for himself : — 

How, gentlemen, is this monstrous rebellion to be met? It can only 
be met by evincing the same earnestness and determination of spirit 
■which the anarchs of the South display in upholding conspiracy and 
treason. It can only be met by making every man in this Northern 



182 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

land a soldier. It therefore becomes a serious question, whether the 
patriot who has evinced capacity in peaceful pursuits, should not turn 
the full flood and current of that capacity upoa the military pro- 
fession; whether all of us should not at once sit down as humble 
pupils in the school of the soldier, school of the company, school of 
the battalion, and adapt ourselves to the emergencies of the military 
era which is before us. 

Moved by these considerations, I have to-day accepted a commission 
from the hands of your governor, and intend to devote myself with 
singleness of purpose and with entire abandonment to the responsible 
position which I have assumed. I shall commence to-morrow to 
organize a regiment, and if I can master the theory and practice of 
the military art, and if my part of physical training and discipline 
shall be equal to its hardships, I shall lead the Twelfth Connecticut 
Volunteers forth to the field of battle. If I fail in either of these 
respects, I shall at least have the courage to resign and thus impose 
no invalid or incompetent officer upon the government. 

General Butler's expedition was not fully organized 
until the close of the year 1861, when the Ninth Con- 
necticut, under Colonel Cahill, and the Twenty-sixth 
Massachusetts, with a single battery were sent forward to 
take possession of Ship Island, in the Gulf. Colonel Deal- 
ing's regiment, the Twelfth, was a special favorite with 
the young war Democrats, and though 10,000 men had 
already gone from the State within six months, this 
regiment was soon filled up, and reached Ship Island early 
in March, where within a month sixteen regiments were 
assembled for the capture of New Orleans. This tooic 
place early in May, 1862, when Colonel Cahill's regiment 
was landed to take possession of the forts which the fleet 
liad silenced, while Colonel Deming's regiment landed in 
the city with General Butler, and for the first night 
bivouacked upon the wharf, but afterwards were quartered 
in Lafayette Square. Colonel Birge's Thirteenth Con- 
necticut Regiment soon attracted General Butler's atten- 
tion, and was assigned the post of honor at the Custom 
House, the army headquarters. In that enraged and in- 
solent city, where the most trustworthy regiments and 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 183 

discreet commanders were required for a moment's security, 
it was an honor to the State to have had such confidence 
reposed in her troops. The Thirteenth was also the regi- 
ment (to say nothing of its after history, and the honor to 
which its commander attained) to which General Butler 
refers in proof of his success in shutting out the yellow 
fever from New Orleans and making it the healthiest city 
in the country, although within ten years one quarter of 
the unacclimated had died in three months. " Up to this 
•date there have been no malignant or epidemic or virulent 
fevers or diseases in New Orleans, and its mortality returna 
show it to be the most healthy city in the United States, 
In one regiment, the Thirteenth Connecticut, 1,000 strong, 
quartered in the Custom House since the 15th of May, but 
one man was lost in July and August." This was cer- 
tainly a striking tribute to the sanitary measures of the 
commander in chief, but quite as much so to the habits 
and morals of these troops. 

Governor Buckingham having received from the Legisla- 
ture at its extra session in October, authority to raise more 
troops, and being furnished with an additional appropriation 
for this purpose, set about this work with his usual energy 
and success. The Secretary of War also had signified his 
readiness to accept additional cavalry and artillery over 
and above the State's quota. But the times in some 
respects were unfavorable to volunteering. The battle of 
Bull Run had been discouraging. Not that our losses had 
been so great, nor that it had developed such strength on 
the part of the Confederacy that we needed to despair of 
final success, for in later times the strength of the Confed- 
erates at Antietam and Gettysburg, and our losses at Fred- 
ericksburg and in the Wilderness, only showed how much 
greater sacrifices must be made if the government was 
to be maintained, and then the response was as prompt 
and magnificent as could have been desired. Now, how- 



184 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

ever, there was a prevalent distrust of the management of 
the war ; a question whether the Army of the Potomac 
had any suitable commander, and whether its movements 
were not too much controlled by civilians and politicians. 
There was also in Connecticut, where political parties were 
nearly equal and party spirit always intense, a considerable 
amount of what was called " Peace Democracy." This 
element took occasion to show itself opposed to the whole 
struggle. At the May session of the Legislature, resolu- 
tions were offered in favor of the Crittenden Compromises^ 
virtually a settlement of the strife upon any terms, assum- 
ing that the rebellion never could be put down, and that 
disunion was already accomplished. Such measures were 
advocated in language like this: "There seems to be a 
radical mistake on the part of many people. They appear 
to think that the South can be conquered. Sir, this is 
impossible. You may destroy their habitations, devastate 
their fields and shed the blood of their people, but you 
cannot conquer them." At that time, however, and in that 
body, such sentiments found little sympathy ; for in a body of 
more than 200 members there were only eighteen to vote for 
such resolutions. But when the first serious reverse came, 
"peace meetings" began to be held. Disloyal sentiments 
were uttered, volunteering was discouraged, and there were 
marked signs of violence and riot. In this state of things, 
the Governor issued the following proclamation, defining 
the duties of the State and the rights of individuals, and 
also setting forth the perils to both from unauthorized 
speech and reckless conduct : — 

By his Excellency, William A. BtrcKiNGHAM, / 

GOVEBNOB OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. ) 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Eleven States of this Union are now armed and in open rebellion 
against federal authority; they have paralyzed the business of the 
nation, have involved us in civil war, and are now exerting their com- 
bined energies to rob us of tlie blessings of free government. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 185 

Tlie greatness of their crime has no parallel in the history of human 
governments. At this critical juncture, our liberties are still further 
imperiled by the utterance of seditious language by a traitorous 
press, which excuses or justifies the rebellion, by secret organizations, 
which propose to resist the laws of the State by force, by the public 
exhibitions of "peace flags" falsely so-called, and by an effort to 
redress grievances regardless of tlie forms and offices of law. 

The very existence of government, the future prosperity of this 
entire nation, and tlie hopes of universal freedom demand that tliese 
outrages be suppressed. 

The Constitution guarantees liberty of speech and of the press, but 
holds the person and the press responsible for the evils which result 
from this liberty. It guarantees the protection of property, but it 
regards no property as sacred which is used to subvert governmental 
authority. It guarantees the person from unreasonable seizure, but 
it protects no individual from arrest and punishment who gives aid 
and comfort to the enemies of our country. It provides by law for 
the punishment of offenses, but allows no grievance to be redressed 
by violence. I therefore call upon the citizens of this State, to sup- 
port and uphold the authority and dignity of the government, and to 
abstain from any act which can tend to encourage and strengthen this 
conspiracy. And I call upon the officers of the law to be active, diligent 
and fearless in arresting and in instituting legal proceedings for the 
punishment of those who are guilty of sedition and treason, and of 
those who are embraced in combinations to obstruct the execution of 
the laws; — so peace may again be restored to our distracted country, 
and the liberties of the people be preserved. 

Given under my hand and the seal of the State, at Hartford, this 
thirty-first day of August, A. D., 1861. 

WlI-LIAM A. BUCKINCJUAM. 

By his Excellency's command, 
J. Hammond Trumbull, Secretary of State. 

These disturbances were soon fiuieted, and volunteering: 
became brisker than ever. The first three regiments sent 
to the front were three-months' men, and their term of 
enlistment having expired they had just retui-ned and been 
dismissed. But as showing the material of which they 
were composed, "the men of these regiments re-enlisted 
almost without an exception ; " while, as showing what a 
few months of thorough drill and service in the field could 
do for them, it should be added that " 500 of them after- 



186 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

wards held commissions in the army," inchiding; among 
them Major-General Alfred H. Terry and Brevet Major- 
Oeneral Joseph R. Haw ley. The Governor, with authority 
from the State to raise more than her quota of troops, and 
the promise from the War Department that they should be 
accepted, with the funds at his disposal, the State out of 
debt, and the credit of the State such that her loans could 
be made at par (or a little over), when the general govern- 
ment could only effect them on less advantageous terms, 
entered upon the work with his usual vigor and success. 
He appealed to the people, showing what the exigency 
demanded if government was to be upheld and the Union 
preserved. He reminded them of the part the State had 
taken in securing our original independence, and the honor- 
able share her sons had borne in the organization and 
administration of the Republic. 

The people responded to his summons as never before. 
The young men from the farms, the shops, the counting- 
rooms, the schools, the colleges, the theological seminaries, 
as by a common impulse of patriotism and chivalry, 
enlisted. Nor did men of business, and those well-nigh past 
the age of military service, excuse themselves at such a 
crisis, but offered their services the more freely as defeats 
and losses showed that they were needed. In fact, the 
real character of the North was never known, not even 
to themselves, until the darkest periods of the war came, 
and natural timidity and party spirit took advantage 
of them to insist upon a settlement upon any terms. 
Then intelligent and conscientious conviction, combined 
with old Cromwellian courage, multiplied Roundheads 
faster than they could fall in battle or die in the 
camp. Of this, Iowa, that young Western State with so 
many Eastern characteristics, furnished a good illustra- 
tion when she raised a volunteer regiment of men past 
military age, called the " Graybeard Regiment," who served 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 187 

through the war and did heroic service.* Such at once 
became the spirit of Connecticut, and much was done to 
foster it. Most of the daily press, with every item of news 
that had reference to the war, was enforcing some lesson 
•of patriotic duty. The pulpit could no more keep silent 
when our republic was in peril, and civil and religious 
liberty at stake, and the " year of jubilee " coming to the 
:slave, than in the Protestant wars of Europe, or in the 
times of the English Commonwealth, or in our own Revo- 
lutionary struggle. 

Then came the endless work of mustering, equipping 
and drilling recruits, before they could be sent into the 
field. Camps were established at Hartford, New Haven, 
Norwich and Meriden. livery city government and the 
selectmen of every town were enlisting men, and stimulat- 
ing enlistment by generous bounties and promising to 
take care of the families that were left behind, engage- 
ments that were well kept. Everything was to be pro- 
vided. The State cseldom had arms enough to arm a 
regiment in advance of its enlistment. Though it had an 
agent in Europe to purchase them, and was on the lookout 
for such as were manufactured here, and the Governor and 
liis friends were buying up on their own responsibility such 
as were thrown upon the market,— still this was for the 
first year at least a constant source of anxiety and hin- 
•drance. As for clothing and equipments, while the women 
were no longer obliged to make up the uniforms of the 
men as at first, it was long before everything could be 
manufactured and provided for a military encampment. 
In fact the organization of such an encampment, keeping 



* This '■ Graybeard Regiment " was made up of men over forty-five years of age 
.imd under no legal obligation to take upon themselves the duties of soldiers. 
They were generally about fifty years of age, and some over sixty. They had 
already sent to the war a good proportion of their sons and gi-andsons, and in 
1863, the most discouraging period of the war, these enlisted for ganison duty, and 
.-served in this capucity till the war was over. 



188 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM, 

everything in order there, not merely policing propeilv 
such a community, providing comfortably and regularly 
for so many men and animals, but seeing that every one 
was at his post and attending faithfully to his duties, and 
looking after every expenditure and keeping all accounts 
properly adjusted, both with the State and with the general 
government, was for civilians no easy work. 

This, however, was the time when everybody in the State 
seemed to be engaged in the service of the State, not as a 
salaried agent, but as a generous friend, only anxious to find 
out how to render the most and the best service. The best 
man was selected to look after this or that State contract 
Such an one was to engage steamboat transportation for the 
troops as they were to be sent South. Another was to see 
that they were properly provisioned until the general gov- 
ernment could take care of them. Still others must he- 
looking up suitable horses for the cavalry and artillery that 
was being organized. This was the time when the Governor 
was so often met hurrying to and from Washington, to confer 
with Mr, Lincoln, and make arrangements with some of the 
departments, or if not doing this personally, sending one of 
his staff, or some one peculiarly fitted for a difficult errand. 
There was plenty of such work then, and some of it 
encountered difficulties, such as securing Lieutenant Robert 
O. Tyler, who had just graduated at West Point, to take 
command of one of the Connecticut regiments, and then, 
changing it from an infantry to a heavy artillery regiment,, 
at the earnest desire of the young colonel. Much of this 
service was gratuitously done, like Captain Daniel Tyler's, 
the only professional soldier in the first three regiments, who 
prepared the Connecticut troops so well for the field, and 
led them well in that Bull Run retreat, lie accepted his- 
appointment on his own stipulation, that he should receive- 
no compensation from the State. His service was suffi- 
ciently recognized afterwards by his promotion in the army. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 189 

But those were times of pure patriotism, and disinter- 
■ested devotion to the public service, and when the State 
could summon to its aid all manner of ability, and devotion, 
and self-sacrifice, from the noblest motives. Then the 
people of the North, moved by a common purpose and 
inspired by a divine impulse, roused themselves to their 
calling, and no cost was too great for the attainment of their 
purpose. It was at this period — the last of 18d1 — that we 
began to show what was meant by the " Uprising of a Great 
People." A few weeks before, unable to believe such a war 
possible, incredulous as to any such desperate spirit, or well- 
organized preparations, or sufficient resources on the part 
oi the South, and with only 75,000 troops called for and 
these three-months' men, our response was not perhaps so 
remarkable. But when it began to appear how much more 
must be done if we expected to save the Republic, what a 
length of line was to be held across the very continent, and 
crowded down until no rebel port could maintain itself to 
the south of it, and this, too, with our insignificant army ; 
what a seacoast on both sides of the continent was to be 
effectually blockaded when we virtually had no navy ; when 
we were imperiled by the disposition of foreign nations to 
acknowledge the nationality of the South, and the Trent 
affair nearly involved us in immediate war with Great 
Britain; and when we were at a loss to know how our 
credit was to bear the strain of even such expenditures, — 
then came the uprising of the people, the pouring in of 
volunteers, the crowding of Northern camps with organized 
troops all ready for the field, which the government was 
unable to either use or support. This was a sight for the 
world to behold. Not a mere popular insurrection, nor wild 
rushing into some foreign war, nor a vast government con- 
scription, nor rash incurring of war expenditures with no 
hope of ever meeting them ; but the people, urging them- 
selves upon the acceptance of the government, and pro- 



190 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

viding themselves for all military expenses, and this not to 
conquer anybody, much less enslave anybody, but to pre- 
serve the national government, and maintain self-govern- 
ment and the equal rights of all, and before high heaven 
and in the sight of the world, pledging themselves not to 
let this only example of such government perish from 
among men, and to stand by this pledge till it was 
redeemed to the satisfaction of everybody, even those who 
were struggling to defeat them. This is what the world 
saw, and what we achieved for the world. 

As showing how the loyal governors and their States 
kept in advance of the general government, and were 
always raising more troops than the government would 
accept, look at the condition of things in several of them 
at this time. Governor Morton of Indiana, whose State 
was naturally Democratic and had a considerable element 
of its population from the South, writes to Washington : 
" Though this State has furnished its quota of thirty-seven, 
regiments, we can give the nation one hundred regiments 
just as well." Governor Morgan of New York sent twa 
members of his staff to the Secretary of War, with the offer 
of thirty regiments already raised. Seventeen were ac- 
cepted and the rest refused. These gentlemen were urging 
the acceptance of the whole number on the ground that all 
were likely to be needed, and that it seriously discouraged 
enlistments to have any of them rejected. Being unsuc- 
cessful with the War Department, they went to the Presi- 
dent with their case, who said : " Yes, that is true ; it will 
seriously discourage future enlistments to have any of 
them kept back; I will see about it," and he did. New 
York, before the year ended, had in service, or ready to 
engage in it, ninety regiments of infantry, ten of cavalry 
and five regiments or battalions of artillery and engineers, 
amounting nearly if not quite to 100,000 men. At the 
same time Governor Dennison of Ohio allows ten days for 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 191 

the completion of his regiments in camp, and savs that 
" within that time, the State will have contributed 35,000 
more of her troops to the grand column that is on its 
march to New Orleans by the war of Xashville." Massa- 
chusetts had seventeen regiments in the field and was 
organizing ten more, with no assurance that thev would all 
be accepted. 

And so with Connecticut. When only a single regiment 
was the State's quota under the first call, she raised and 
equipped three others, and kept them in camp under drill, 
to take the place of the three-months' men who should not 
re-enlist, or in case more should be needed. In the fol- 
lowing autumn, the Governors message to the extra session 
of the Legislature says : " The calls made for volunteers 
for the national defense have met with a hearty response, 
and but for the hesitancy on the part of the general govern- 
ment to accept more troops, we might have 12,000 or 15,000 
men in the field to-day." As it was, however, the State 
then had nine regiments, with camp equipage complete, 
already in the field, or ready to go at a few days' notice. 
This was the time when the three regiments of three- 
months' men, who had conducted themselves so well at 
Bull Run, had re-enlisted. It was then that such troops as 
these, and under such commanders, were forwarded to the 
general government, and others incorporated with them to 
do good service in other battles and campaigns. These 
troops had not only fought well there, for fresh troops, but 
kept up their organization when so many other commands 
were completely broken up in that wild rout. They were 
the rear guard of the retreating army, and other States 
were indebted to them for the protection of their dis- 
organized forces, and the saving of their camp property. 
"The Connecticut Brigade," says the Neiv York World, 
" was the last to leave the field, and by hard fighting had 
to defend itself and to protect our scattered thousands for 



192 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

several miles of the retreat." They not only occupied 
their own camping ground the night after the battle, but 
when ordered to leave for Washington they took with them 
not only their own baggage, but the tents and equipments 
of two Ohio regiments and the Second New York, which 
had been deserted. General Tyler, their commander, 
might well say with pride: "At 7 o'clock Tuesday morn- 
ing, I saw the three Connecticut regiments, with 2,000 
bayonets, march under the guns of Fort Corcoran, after 
having saved us not only a large amount of public property, 
but the mortification of having our standing camps fall 
into the hands of the enemy." 

This was the time when the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, 
spoken of as "a splendid body of men and ably officered," 
left for the seat of war, within a month after our repulse 
at Bull Run, a regiment that behaved well in the battle and 
defeat of Winchester, in the fiercer fight with Jackson at 
Cedar Mountain, and shared faithfully the fortunes of Sher- 
man in his march through Georgia to the sea. This regi- 
ment was under the command of Colonel Orris S. Ferry, 
who afterwards became brigadier general, and still later 
represented the State in the United States Senate as the 
colleague of Governor Buckingham. 

This regiment was followed by the Sixth and Seventh ; 
the former commanded by Colonel Chatfield, who died 
of wounds received in storming Fort Wagner, and Lieu- 
tenant Colonel William G. Ely, who came out of the war 
a brevet brigadier general ; the latter by Colonel Alfred H. 
Terry, *' The Hero of Fort Fisher," made a major general 
in the regular army, and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph R. 
Hawley, who was brevetted major general, and is now 
serving his third term as United States Senator. These 
troops were attached to General Sherman's successful ex- 
pedition against South Carolina, and after Commodore 
Dupont with his fleet had reduced the forts that defended 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 193 

Port Royal, they were selected to land first. This they 
seem to have done without much regard to order or pre- 
cedence, for when their steamer ran aground, they sprang 
into the water and formed upon the beach. This was a 
matter of pride to them and to their State, which the 
Governor expressed in a proclamation congratulating the 
State and her soldiers, that " the two regiments from Con- 
necticut were the first to land on the hostile shore, and 
after the stars and the stripes, the flag of Connecticut was 
the first to wave above the traitorous soil of South Caro- 
lina." These regiments were both concerned in the 
capture of Morris Island in Charleston harbor, and the 
brave though unsuccessful assault upon Fort Wagner; in 
the tedious reduction of Petersburg and the movements 
that secured the evacuation of Richmond, and in the 
capture of Fort Fisher, which had been unsuccessfully 
attemi)ted before, but now was accomplished by the fleet 
under Admiral Porter, and the land forces under General 
Terry. It had become a necessity to reduce this fort to 
put a stop to the immense amount of blockade running 
into the port of Wilmington. It must be attempted 
again and taken by storm if possible ; if not, by siege. 
General Grant knew that he had in Admiral Porter ar.d 
his fleet what he wanted for the naval part of the expcdi 
tion, and his wisdom put the land forces in charge of that 
blue-eyed, light-haired, modest young officer who came from 
Connecticut at the head of a single regiment, at the out- 
break of the war, with no militai-y knowledge except whnt 
he could have acquired in the State militia. He was given 
some of his old State troops, and especially his own regi- 
ment, and furnished also with a portion of the First Con- 
necticut Heavy Artillery under Colonel Abbot, with a 
sufficient siege train, if the fort could not be carried with- 
out a siege. The fleet began the attack, and for eight 
hoiUTj rrhof-. und shell were poured upon that devoted forti- 



194 WILLIAM A, liUCKLNGHAM. 

fication at the rate of more than 300 a minute. Then 
came the assault, on one side from the naval column, 
which was repulsed, and on the other by the land forces, 
led by Generals Terry and* Ames, 

The fighting was at close quarters. The carnage was terrible. The 
leader of each brigade and the commanders of half the regiments 
went down in the storm. The Pennsylvania regiments were first in 
the fort. At five o'clock, after the most desperate fighting, foot by 
foot, we had possession of half the land front. Tcmy sent for 
Abbot's brigade, with the Sixth Connecticut, and his old regiment 
the Seventh. He springs to the head of the column, leads it through 
the fort in pursuit of the retreating rebels, and compels instant and 
unconditional surrender. The result was a capture of the garrison 
of 2,000 men, 160 guns, and seven valuable blockade runner.s. — [" Con- 
necticut in the War,'" p. 689. 

So Fort Fisher fell, the last great shelter of blockade run- 
ners, and possessing works almost impregnable. Admiral 
Porter telegraphed : " I was in Fort Malakoff a few days 
after its surrender to the French and the British, The 
combined armies of those two nations were many months 
capturing that stronghold. And it did not compare in size 
or strength with Fort Fisher." 

These troops were followed by the Eighth, Tenth, and 
Eleventh Regiments to join the Burnside expedition for 
Hatteras Inlet. After encountering a terrible storm off 
the cape, which lasted three weeks, and wrecked one-third 
of the fleet before it could get over the bar, the rebel works 
on Roanoke Island were subdued, and Newbern taken after 
many difficulties and severe fighting, in which these troops 
bore a conspicuous part. The position won, however, im- 
portant as it might have seemed, was never worth the valor 
and loss it cost; it was so far inland, and so easily over- 
whelmed by a concentrated force of the enemy, that it had 
to be relinquished before the close of the war, when Ply- 
mouth was recaptured, and so many noble fellows were 
carried off to starve in Southern prisons. The " gallant 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 195 

Eighth," as it was called, under Colonel Edward Harland, 
proved itself a good regiment everywhere, whether in hold- 
ing its position and reorganizing the disorganized troops at 
Antietam, or in leading the way over the riimparts of Fort 
Harrison in front of Petersburg. For such leadership their 
commander attained, as he well deserved, the rank of 
brigadier general. The Tenth, under Colonel Russell, 
had shared faithfully with the Eighth and the Eleventh 
in the reduction of the works on Roanoke Island, and 
in the capture of Newbern, and had not its noble young 
colonel fallen so early in the war, he too might have 
attained to equal honor. The Eleventh gallantly stormed 
the bridge at Antietam, where it lost its commander, 
Colonel T. H. C. Kingsbury, and Captain John Griswold, 
" two of its choicest men," and there with those other Con- 
necticut regiments, particularly the Sixteenth, contributed 
so liberally to the grave, the hospitals, and the rebel 
prisons. This Eleventh regiment did important service at 
Cold Harbor, in a brigade commanded by their own Colonel 
Stedman, who says : " We left the woods with 2,000 men ; 
in five minutes we returned, six hundred less," and at the 
assault upon the works of Petersburg when the mine was 
exploded, they lost their second colonel just as he had 
been brevetted brigadier general. 

The recruiting of these regiments was immediately fol- 
lowed by that of three others for General Butler's expedi- 
tion against New Orleans. These were the Ninth under 
Colonel Cahill, the Twelfth under Colonel Deming, and the 
Thirteenth under Colonel Birge, which have already been 
spoken of and characterized. Only one of them left the 
State during that autumn, but the other two were then 
recruited and reorganized, and left early in 1862. 

In the meantime the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery 
was organized and equipped, that unequaled contribution 
to our army, which had no other organization of the kind, 



196 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

save the Second Heavy Artillery, which was also furnished 
by Connecticut. This was originally an infantry regiment, 
but when its young colonel, Robert 0. Tyler, just graduated 
at West Point as a lieutenant in the engineer corps, took 
command, its organization was changed, and instead of a 
regiment of ten companies of 100 men each, it was com- 
posed of twelve companies of 150, or 1,800 men all told. 
These were trained both as infantry and as artillerists, and 
in service might be found leaving their heavy guns behind 
them, and using their muskets as effectively as their ram- 
rods and sponges. It was a splendid body of troops, as 
the writer saw them reviewed by the Governor, just before 
they left Virginia to join McClellan in his Peninsular cam- 
paign ; 1,600 of them in line, young, bright, clear-faced, 
carrying with them the principles and morals of their New 
England homes; and with their accomplished commander 
and his promising staff officers, it was not strange that they 
accomplished all that was expected of them, and received 
the highest commendation of the army officers, and the 
government, and foreign military critics. We remember 
at the dinner table, after the review, when the first troops 
from the neighboring camps were being sent down the 
Potomac, some one said to their colonel : " Colonel, our 
boys feel badly that these troops are going off on this expe- 
tion, and we must lie here in our camp." " Nonsense," 
was his reply, worthy of the wisdom and self-control of 
some old veteran ; " our business is to have a good regi- 
ment, and if we have one we shall be wanted." We soon 
read that they were to join the expedition, and take with 
them a large siege train, a train, as it proved, of " seventy- 
one heavy guns, — from 200-pounder Parrotts to thirteen-inch 
sea-service mortars, exceeding in weight by fifty per cent, 
any guns that had ever before been placed in siege bat- 
teries." To have transported them safely through the 
swamps of the Chickahominy, and not left one of them 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 197 

there; to have used them so effectively^ at Malvern Hill 
and saved our army in its utter rout, and to have held so 
pertinaciously the siege of Petersburg until Richmond was 
evacuated and Lee was forced to surrender, — this is achieve- 
ment enough, and honor enough for any commander, espe- 
cially for a young engineer, and for troops that would have 
been deemed raw recruits in most armies when tliey were 
accomplishing this. Well did they deserve all the honor 
that has been given them, and the promotion of brevet 
major general bestowed upon their commander. 

Nor was this all, for during that autumn was raised and 
drilled, though not sent into the field until some time in 
the winter, the State's First Light Battery, and the First 
Regiment of Cavalry. This battery consisted of four 
bronze six-pounder James rifled guns, 156 men and the 
proper number of horses, ammunition wagons, forage 
wagons, a forge and everything necessary for immediate 
service. It created a sensation in a quiet Connecticut 
town like East Meridon, to witness their drill and liear 
them thundering over their fields and hills in so much of 
the reality of war; and when they left we are not surprised 
that it was with the high respect of the community who 
not only looked uj)on them as heroes from the first, but 
esteemed them personally, and followed their fortunes with 
deep interest. There is in the State Capitol at Hartford, 
by the side of the State flags and near the statue of the 
" War Governor," a wheel of one of the guns of this 
battery, which is more descriptive of its services than any 
ordinary history of it could be. It is a wheel that has 
been disabled by a round shot cleanly cutting its way 
through its immensely thick tire and solid oak felly, 
carrying away half the hub, leaving the wheel in ether 
respects as compact and solid as ever. Upon it are in- 
scribed the name of its captain, Alfred P. Rockwell, and 
the more important engagements in which it had been 



198 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

concerned, such as: "James Island, S. C, June, '62;" 
"Bermuda Hundred, Va., May and June, '64;" "before 
Petersburgh, August and September, '64 ; " "before Rich- 
mond, from October, '64, to April, '65," and "struck in 
action at Proctor's Creek, Va., May 15, '65." There are 
more than twenty of these inscriptions, representing a full 
three years of service in the war. It should be said also 
that their young captain who led them to the war, returned 
a brevet brigadier general. 

The First Connecticut Cavalry was also recruited and 
equip])cd at the same time. Previous to this a squadron 
was enlisted, but when the War Department declined to 
receive any more troops from the State, it entered the " Ira 
Harris" Cavalry Regiment of New York. But this cavalry 
battalion of 346 men, recruited from almost every town in 
the State, and said to have been made up as a rule of men 
of superior intelligence and character, was raised without 
difficulty, and sent to West Virginia, where it began at once 
that hard and desperate work, which belongs to this branch 
of military service, and which was never intermitted until 
it had helped to finisli the war around Richmond and 
Petersburg, and witnessed the surrender of Lee. When it 
left the State it was only a battalion of about 350, but the 
hardships of the service, both upon men and horses, were so 
severe that it required a constant recruiting of both to keep 
them up to even this standard. And their services were so 
valuable that after a time they were recruited up to a full 
cavalry regiment of 675 mounted men. Their recruits came 
both from the North and from the South, for on one 
occasion they enlisted 120 veterans, who were Confederate 
prisoners and deserters from the Confederate army — men 
who had been impressed into that service from Noi'th 
Carolina and Tennessee. They were also supplied at one 
time with 500 horses, and so many of ihem being raw 
recruits and of a miscellaneous character, they were sent 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 199 

to Annapolis, Md., and put in charge of their old com- 
mander, Major Blakeslee, who subjected them to hard drill 
and rigid discipline, and brought them to an admirable 
condition, when they were ordered to join the Army of the 
Potomac, and share heavily in the hardships and losses of 
the battles of the Wilderness. The following is a description 
of them as they left for the front: — 

The old camp was broken up and abandoned, rations cooked and 
distributed, horses fed and groomed, small packs made up, and 675 
mounted men were drawn up, mounted in close column of squadrons, 
every man in place, sabres shining, flags flying, and guidons flashing 
in the wind ; — a magnificent array. Major Blakeslee, young and almost 
beardless, might well be proud of his command, and the bugler 
sounded the officers' call. The line officers rode to the front, and 
received directions to permit no straggling nor foraging, and to keep 
the ranks well filled up. The bugler sounded the "Forward!" and 
away tlipy rode to the year of deadly conflict, to toil and vigilance, 
heat, cold and hunger, death, wounds, and glory. — [^'Connecticut in 
the War," p. 496. 

The history of this single regiment has enough of hard- 
ship, heroism and romance in it to fascinate and impress a 
nation with the noblest qualities of manhood and patriotism, 
even if we had not so much more of the same in the whole 
army and in every branch of the service. Take some of the 
work of this regiment in Western Virginia. Harry Gilmore, 
the '-Rebel Raider," had been making some of his audacious 
and successful forays across the borders of the Northern 
States, and had swept into Maryland, cutting the railroad 
between Baltimore and Washington, and capturing a major 
general and a number of officers on the train. Major 
Whitaker of this cavalry was ordered by Sheridan's chief 
of staff to take 300 picked men and pursue this bold 
rider any distance and at any risk, until he was cap- 
tured and handed over to the Federal authorities. These 
troopers pushed up all day and all night over the Alleghenies 
for seventy miles, thirty of which were within the enemy's 
lines, making a march of 140 miles in a little over forty- 



200 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

eight hours, secured Gilmore and handed liim over to the 
authorities to be imprisoned as a spy in Fort McHenry. A 
still more daring and successful personal adventure is told 
of Major Blakeslco, their "young and almost beardless" 
commander. It occurred in that desperate fighting between 
Grant and Lee for the capture and defense of Richmond. 
The men had been dismounted and put upon the skirmish 
line, where they had remained for eighteen hours without 
relief or food, when word came from their brigade com- 
mander : " I must have a regiment that I can trust, and the 
First Connecticut must stay all night." They were to 
advance at dawn the next morning, but being out of 
ammunition and delayed in securing it, they fell behind, 
when suddenly the enemy charged upon their rear with 
such fury, that there was a perfect stampede of pack 
animals and drivers, frightened horses and mules, mounted 
servants and soldiers, with all military order lost, and even 
brave men swejjt away in the panic-stricken crowd. Major 
Blakeslee on a powerful horse forced his passage to the 
rear, and opening his command to the right and left, let 
the fugitives go through, when he found himself and his 
command face to face with a full brigade of rebel cavalry. 
Major Blakeslee tells, in a private letter, of this encounter 
in the charge with a rebel horseman : — 

I was somewhat in advance of my men, when the sudden dash of 
our horses had somehow — I have no distinct idea how — brought this 
horseman and myself side by side. He was a little in advance of his 
men, and we met about midway between the ojiposing troops. He 
was so near that I could have laid my hand upon his shoulder, when 
he thrust the muzzle of his pistol within three or four inches of my 
right side and snaj^ped the cap. It missed. As quick as thought I 
raised my pistol to his left side and fired. He fell from his horse and 
died instantly. I saw his pistol drop from his grasp to the ground, 
and I did, what in a cooler moment I should not have done; in the 
midst of bullets I leaped from my horse, snatched the pistol, sprang 
on again, and led his horse to my men, and gave it to Sergeant Hinman, 
who fighting near me had had his horse shot under Iiiin, and lie kept 
the revolver as a trophy. The whole occupied but a few seconds. 



VVIx^LTAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 201 

This record, which is in itself such a tribute of praise to 
the State and its governor, is none the less so because many 
other States showed similar patriotism, and other governors 
wrought with similar zeal and fidelity in the work of saving 
the nation. 

In this first year of the war and time of hesitancy as 
to what should be done, and what the North was ready to 
do, when there were such divided counsels as to the 
management of the war, and who should be put at the 
head of our armies, and when our armies were to be raised 
and the whole art of war was to be learned by us ; such a 
bare record of what had to be done, and was done, by one 
of these loyal States, is illuminating. It shows, too, what 
its governor meant when he was urging the government to 
prosecute the war with more vigor, and gave the Secretary 
of War this pledge in behalf of himself and State : " With 
this statement I only beg to confirm the views herein 
expressed to your Excellency, with the assurance that no 
State, large or small, shall send you better troops, or stand 
by you in all your embarrassments and perplexities mure 
firmly, than this Commonwealth." 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Year 1862. 

Review of the Situation up to J 862— Proorress of the War in the West 
and on the Coast — Governor Buckingham's Re-election — A Patri- 
otic Legislature — The Peace Party in Connecticut — Demands that 
the Army of the Potomac Move. 

The second year of the war, 1862, opened with some important 
gains to the Federal government, though the preceding year had 
been one of fearful perils, and not a few heavy losses. Several of the 
Southern States had been kept from joining the Confederacy, and 
Missouri, the most hostile and dangerous of the border States, had 
been pretty well subdued, thanks to the prompt action av.d vigorous 
campaigns of General Lyon. Our military line of occupation from 
the Cumberland Mountains across Kentucky to the mouth of the 
Ohio, had been pushed down into Tennessee, and the upper Miss- 
issippi had been opened as far down as Memphis. The blockade of 
the Southern ports had been made so effectual that no foreign nation 
ventured to treat it as a "paper blockade," except at the risk of 
forfeiting every ship and cargo engaged in blockade running, and 
though the coast-line to be guarded was more than 3,000 miles, and 
required 600 vessels, most of them steamers, to do it effectually, 
more than half this number had been provided and were engaged 
in this business within nine months after the war broke out. Our 
navy, too, which was comparatively nothing at first, soon became 
formidable enough to fear no rebel cruiser, and to recover the more 
important of our government fortiUcations, or to seal up the ports 
where they were situated. This n ivy was collected and created out 
of every craft that could be strengthened to carry a rifled cannon, or 
sustain a mortar, until we had a fleet of war and transport steamers, 
of ironclads and rams and monitors, which soon took possession of 
Hatteras Inlet and Newbern, the refuge of blockade runners, recap- 
tured Fort Pulaski, the defense of Savannah, and sweeping away the 
defenses of New Orleans, brought that important city, and more 
important river, under Federal control. There was another peculiar 
part of our navy called into existence at that time; the stout, swift, 
side-wheel steamboats of our Western rivers, with no armor, only 
altered for the better protection of their machinery, and carrying 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 208 

several rifled guns; the powerful steamers of 5,000 tons burden, 
heavily armored, and each carrying a dozen heavy guns; and 
those smaller but still more powerful steamers, heavily armoicd, 
with slanting casemates, a plating of two and a half inches, carrying 
thirteen guns and steaming nine miles an hour, together with the 
"tin clads," which were only musket-proof. These all went to make 
up Commodore Foote's gunboat fleet on our Western waters, with 
which he soon cleared the upper Mississippi of the enemy's fleet and 
obstructions, reducing "Island No. 10," its strong hold, and keeping 
the river open until our fleet was met at Memphis by Farragut's fleet 
from the mouth of the river, and that great prize, the free navigation 
of the Mississippi, was won for the West. It was this fleet, under this 
commander, which reduced Forts Henry and Donelson on the Ten- 
nessee and Cumberland rivers, and made it possible for General 
Grant to win that all-important battle of Corinth, or Pittsburg Land- 
ing, and clear his passage for the investment of Vicksburg, and 
open the way afterwards for General Sherman to set out on his 
" march to the sea." Then our army which was so insignificantly 
small at the breaking out of the war was reported by the Secretary of 
War as having within nine months been increased by voluntary 
enlistments to 600,000 men. Even the Army of the Potomac, only one 
of the half-dozen of our Northern armies, had upon its muster rolls, 
January 1, 1862, 219,707 men. And this was the rate at which 
enlistments had to be kept up to make good the losses of the service, 
until probably 2,000,000 of Uuion men had been in the field before 
the war closed. One million and fifty thousand were on the rolls and 
drawing pay when the war ended. — Draper's " Civil War,^^ Chaps. 44 
and 45, Vol. II. 

Thus the military and naval strength of the Federal 
government was steadily and rapidly increasing when the 
new year opened, and this was to be soon followed by 
some important successes. Fort Pickens, one of the 
strongest of our fortifications, the key to the Gulf of Mex- 
ico, had just been saved to the Union by the " fidelity 
and prompt energy of Lieutenant Slemmer, its com- 
mander," when most of the Southern forts, with immense 
military stores, had been taken possession of by the seceding 
States. About this time also a military and naval expedi- 
tion had been planned and successfully executed by Com- 
modore Dupont and General Sherman against Port Royal, 
S. C. This is a fine port between Charleston and Savannah, 



204 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

from which expeditions could be fitted out against either of 
these places, as was done when Fort Pulaski, the defense 
of Savannah, was taken and held, and whence a position 
was secured on the neighboring islands of Charleston to 
operate against that city. A land and sea expedition under 
General Butler and Commodore Stringham had also been 
successful!}' carried out against Hatteras Inlet, which sealed 
up that part of the coast against blockade runners, and 
allowed General Burnside and Admiral Goldsborough, a 
few months later, to capture Roanoke Island, and all the 
approaches to Newbern, and take possession of the city 
itself, a position quite inland, important both with reference 
to North and South Carolina. 

Such had been our substantial gains and brightening 
prospects as the year was closing, when we were suddenly 
brought into the most critical relations with Great Britain 
by the " Trent affair." The case was this : Messrs. Mason 
and Slidell, Confederate commissioners to foreign govern- 
ments, had run the blockade to the West Indies, and taken 
the Knglish mail steamer Trent for England. Captain 
Wilkes, in command of one of our war steamers, the San 
Jacinto, learning of this, overhauled the British steamer, 
demanded and took possession of these commissioners as 
contrabands of war, and delivered them up to the Federal 
authorities. Instead of asking for an explanation in the 
usual form and through the ordinary channels of diplo- 
matic intercourse, and giving us an opportunity to disavow 
the act and apologize for it, as we might have been expected 
to do, if it was as illegal and indefensible as was repre- 
sented, a peremptory and threatening demand was imme- 
diately made out for the surrender of the i)risoncrs, and, 
without any communication with Mr. Adams, our minister 
at the British court, was forwarded directly to Washington 
by a private messenger, together with a letter from Earl Rus- 
sell to Lord Lyons, saying that " the British government 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 205 

would not allow such an affront to her national honor to 
pass without full reparation." The London Times also told 
us in advance that there was no door left open for explana- 
tion or negotiation, and that no possible delay of decision 
would be allowed. Preparations also were immediately 
begun for war, and large shipments made of troops and 
arms for Canada, as if we were to be driven into war and 
no way left open for any peaceful settlement of the diffi- 
culty. Indeed, if the tone of the press, the spirit of diplo- 
matic correspondence, the preparation for war on the part 
of the British government, were an indication of the temper 
of that per pie, it seemed as if they desired war, and would 
provoke us into it if possible. 

And what was this astonishing violation of the neutrality 
laws of nations and gross insult to national honor which 
England complained of so confidently and resented so 
keenly ? As it appeared to us at the time, it seemed as 
if we had enough in the exigencies of our condition ; in 
the true meaning and spirit of neutrality law ; in the prin- 
ciples and practice of Great Britain, and in the character 
of the prisoners taken as our own subjects, engaged in a 
plot to overthrow the government, and enlist foreign 
nations in aid of such a conspiracy ; to justify our procedure. 
Therefore it was not strange that the act was generally 
commended by the press and rejoiced over by the people, so 
that Captain Wilkes, as soon as he reached Boston and 
had seen his prisoners safely shut up in Fort Warren, 
accepted a public reception in Faneuil Hall, and was 
judged worthy to be made an admiral.* He had taken 
from the ship of a neutral nation, which had no right to 
help our enemies carry on war against us, " officers and dis- 
patches " of the enemy which were as much " contraband 



* Though the government could not properly bestow upon him such promotion 
when he had neglected to have his act justified by an admiralty court, or out of 
the proper order of promotion, he was soon after made commodore for distin- 
guished service, and several years later, when upon the retired list, a rear admiral. 



206 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

of war " as " arms, military stores and materials " of war. 
They had all been included together in the Queen's procla- 
mation of neutrality between the United States and the 
Confederates, upon the breaking out of the war : — 

Her Majesty's "loving subjects and all persons whatsoever entitled 
to ber protection," were forbidden and warned against " entering into 
the military service of either of the said contending parties;" against 
''fitting out, arming or equipping any ship or vessel, to be employed 
as a ship of war, or privateer, or transport, by either of the contend- 
ing parties;" also against "carrying officers, soldiers, dispatches, 
arms, military stores or materials, or any articles considered and 
deemed to be contraband of war, according to the law or modern 
usage of nations, for the use or service of either of the contending 
parties: and all persons so offending will incur and be liable to the 
several penalties and penal consequences by the said statute, or by 
the law of nations, in that behalf imposed or denounced. 

Then we were only following the example and adopting 
the principles of Great Britain in this matter. She had 
claimed the right to take her seamen from our vessels 
wherever she found them, and had often exercised it against 
our remonstrances. Indeed, this was one of the causes of 
our war of 1812, and the war was ended without our secur- 
ing the relinquishment of that claim.* 

Yet in spite of such justification of our course, our gov- 
ernment repudiated the act of Captain Wilkes, surrendered 
his prisoners, and congratulated itself that it had settled at 
last a dangerous principle of international law, from which 
we had suffered and were liable at any time to suffer more. 
The state paper which disposed of the matter may indeed 
be considered as able and just a treatment of the subject, as 



* As showing how captious the British government was at this time, and how 
forgetful of her own principles of action in similar circumstances, it will be remem- 
bered that she arraigned us sharply, and seemed disposed to pick a quarrel, on the 
ground of our violating the laws of nations and freedom of the seas, because we 
had attempted to block up the harbor of Charleston, S- C, until we gave them the 
assurance that such obstructions would be removed when the war was over. And 
yet Scott, in his " Life of Napoleon I," says she "attempted to destroy the harbor 
of Boulogne by sinking in the roads ships loaded with stone-"— [Fc/. ll,p. 85. Ilar- 
per'sEd; 1827. 



V7ILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 207 

it was skillfully drawn to soothe the irritated feelings of 
our people and satisfy them that this was the only right 
course to be pursued under any circumstances. Mr. Sew- 
ard, our Secretary of State, who drew up the paper, took 
the ground that our act was not justified, because the ship 
and the prisoners were not taken into port and the case 
tried by some admiralty court, and declared justifiable; 
and also because the arrest and search of a foreign vessel, 
and the disregard of the protecting power of another flag, 
were too great an exercise of authority, without the revision 
and sanction of some court of law, to be entrusted to any 
ship captain, or naval officer, or even cabinet minister. 

Mr. Seward, in this paper, after maintaining the inde- 
pendent sovereignty of a nation, and the protecting power of 
its flag, and its right even to protect what is contraband of 
war until some court of admiralty has declared it contra- 
band and justified its seizure, says : — 

I have not been unaware that in examining this question, I have 
fallen into an argument from what appears to be the British side 
of the case against my own country. But I am relieved from all 
embarrassment on that subject. I had hardly fallen into that line of 
argument when I discovered that I was really defending and main- 
taining, not an exclusive British interest, but an old, honored and 
cherished cause ; not upon British authorities, but upon principles that 
constitute a large portion of the distinctive policy by which the United 
States have developed the resources of a continent, and thus becoming 
a considerable maritime power, has won the respect and confidence 
of many nations. 

Then, after showing that these principles were laid down 
by this government as early as Mr. Jefferson's adminis- 
tration, in instructions to Mr. Monroe, at that time our 
minister to England, and had been persistently maintained 
ever since, he goes on to say : — 

If I decide this case in favor of my own government, I must 
disallow its most cherished principles, and reverse and forever abandon 
its essential policy. The country cannot afford it. If I maintain 
those principles and adhere to that policy, I must, surrender the case 



208 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

itself. It will be seen, therefore, that this fjoveruraent cannot deny 
the justice of the claim presented. We are asked to do to the British 
nation just what we have always insisted all nations should do to us. 

Then referring to the justification of our act in its neces- 
sity for the salvation of our government, he says : — 

If the safety of the Union required the detention of the captured 
pei'sons, it would be the right and the duty of this government to 
detain them. But the effectual check and waning proportions of the 
existing insurrection, as well as the comparative unimportance of the 
captured persons themselves, when dispassionately weighed, happily 
forbid me from resorting to that defense. Nor have I been tempted 
at all by suggestions that cases might be found in history where Great 
Britain refused to yield toother nations, even to ourselves, claims like 
that which is now before us. It would tell little for our claims to the 
character of a just and magnanimous people, if we would so far con- 
sent to be guided by the law of retaliation, as to lift up buried injuries 
from their graves, to oppose against what national consistency, and 
the national conscience, compel us to regard as a claim intrinsically 
right. Pushing behind me all suggestions of this kind, I prefer to 
express my satisfaction that by the adjustment of the present case 
upon principles confessedly American, and yet as I trust mutually 
satisfactory to both of the nations concerned, a question is finally and 
rightly settled between them, which heretofore exhausted not only 
all forms of peaceful discussion, but also the arbitrament of war itself, 
and for more than half a century alienated the two countries from 
each other, and perplexed with fears and apprehension all other 
nations. 

So this black war cloud, which might have swept away 
our Union, and with it our bright prospects and so many 
of the hopes of the world, was mercifully dissipated, and 
England, whose glory has been her persistent and success- 
ful opposition to slavery, was spared the infamy of helping 
to establish a slaveholding confederacy after such a record.* 



* Mr. Russell of the London Times professed to be under the impression that the 
government could not give up Mason and Shdell ; that the people would not allow 
it. Well, Mason and Slidell are given up, and no tumults succeed. Indeed, we 
think there is a very general sense of relief in consequence. Moreover, it was 
supposed that these and traitors could not be relinquished at the demand of 
Great Britain, without the fact and the sense of the national humiliation on our 
part. The thing has been done, and it will not be a week before we shall perceive 
that we have performed one of the proudest deeds of our history ; that there was 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 209 

In the State canvass this year, Governor Buckingham 
was elected for the fifth time, and by a handsome majority. 
The Legislature also was largely Republican in both 
branches ; the Senate wholly so, and the House having 181 
Republicans to 56 Democrats. The Democratic party was 
always strong and well organized in the State, and for 
the most part they sustained the general administration 
in the prosecution of the war ; like Colonel Deming, 
who, though a Democratic leader, was elected Speaker ^ n 
of the last Republican House of Representatives, and 
had just gone to the front at the head of a regiment. 
There were, however, a considerable number of " Peace 
Democrats," who became a peculiarly obstructive and 
dangerous element at that time when the government was 
taxed to the utmost in raising troops, which this class 
discouraged. Still they encouraged " peace meetings," 
gathered under a white flag,, or under our national flag 
with fourteen of its stars blotted out, to represent the 
number of the seceding States. Resolutions were passed 
that " the American Union is forever destroyed," and the 
towns were called upon to take ground " against a further 
continuance of this bloody spectacle," and some of their 
papers were saying: "We are opposed to this war. It has 
already driven the border States out of the Union : it can 
never bring them back ; it is crushing out the lifeblood of 



really nothing that we could have done so masterly in its effect upon the rebellion 
and upon foreign opinion. The release of the rebel commissioners, purely on the 
authority of American precedent, supporting American theory, binding England to 
the support of a doctrine which she has always practically opposed, even in her 
dealings with this country, will be accounted by foreign governments as one of the 
cleverest jobs ever done in diplomacy. It is so clever we almost suspect it to be a 
trick ; yet we have only to reperuse Mr. Seward's masterly paper, to find that we 
have the argument, and that he has really left nothing to be said. The subject is 
exhausted There it is in all its length, breadth, and thickness, and in all its 
bearings and relations. America states its own argument, and saves* the British 
government the trouble of doing it. Then she tosses back into British protection 
the men whom it is not the slightest object for her to keep, and washes her 
hands of the whole affair before the nations — [Springfield Republican, January ^a 
and 9, 1863. 



210 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

New England." This element took advantage of our de- 
feats, as at Bull Run, to show the hopelessness of the 
struggle, and to discourage enlistments, when a draft had 
to be levied after the losses of 1863. It was responsible 
for the riots at New York and at Boston, and almost pro- 
voked one in Connecticut. It was one of the helpful and 
hopeful features of the State, that at this time when its 
military and (inancial resources were to be taxed so heavily, 
there was such perfect unanimity on this subject, on the 
part of the Governor and both branches of the Legislature. 
The Legislature adjourned upon the close of General 
McClellan's disastrous Peninsular campaign, having re- 
mained in session to know the worst and to provide for 
it. When this was known, laying aside every other sub- 
ject of legislation except the state of the country, both 
branches of the Legislature adopted unanimously, on the 
last day of the session, the following resolution: — 

That the State of Connecticut will stand by the old flasj, and will 
furnish all the men and money that are required of her, to put down 
this infamous rebellion. 

It was a legislature of universal ability, and well repre- 
sented both the wisdom and the patriotism of the State, and 
from this time forth the State assumed, with new confi- 
dence and vigor, the heavy responsibilities that had fallen 
upon her. 

Happily when this Legislature came together in May, it 
found the financial resources and credit of the State in as 
good a condition as its patriotism. The London Times, 
which was disposed to be captious about most of our 
doings, was already saying that, at the end of this 
first year of the war, we seemed to have accomplished 
little except to spend an unconscionable amount of money. 
The war, to be sure, was far from an end, and the expendi- 
tures of the war nobody had begun to conceive. But we 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 211 

intended to be honest, and pay even our war debt, instead 
of leaving it as a consolidated fund, paying only interest, 
and suffering it to remain a tax forever. The general 
government, under Secretary Chase, had adopted its 
admirable system of banking and loans which carried us 
successfully tlirough the war, and made us strong, just 
where the Confederacy utterly broke down. And the 
loyal States, co-operating with the general government to 
make its financial system a success, and lending their 
credit, as Connecticut did, to maintain the federal credit, 
furnished a combination of financial wisdom and strength, 
which must be memorable in history. This, be it re- 
membered, was accomplished without any reckless confis- 
cation of private property, or misappropriation of public 
funds, or neglect of all the other interests of a State 
except such as pertained to war. 

Governor Buckingham's message to the Legislature this 
year shows what financial ability and fidelity were manag- 
ing the affairs of Connecticut to furnish such a satisfactory 
exhibit in such perplexing circumstances. Within a year 
he had turned over to the service of the United States 
13,576 troops, infantry, cavalry and artillery, all com- 
pletely armed and equipped for service. He had expended 
in such service for the general government $1,616,505 and 
had secured an interest-bearing certificate of indebtedness 
from the United States treasury for $600,000, expended in 
behalf of the general government. He had made an 
arrangement with the government to have the direct war 
taxes levied upon the State, assumed by the State, and 
collected by the officers of the State, rather than by officers 
of the general government, as more "in accordance with 
the views, usages and business interests of her citizens" 
as well as at less cost to the general government. He 
commendB the new internal revenue scheme, and though 
likely to "make still larger demands upon the pecuniarj 



212. WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

resources of the State," he assured his fellow-citizens of 
"their abundant ability to meet such claims, and out of 
the profits of their industry, supply the public treasury 
with ample means to prosecute the war, and furnish a 
good foundation for public credit. Sound policy dictates 
that you should avail yourselves of this self-sacrificing 
patriotism by making liberal provision to meet our existing 
obligations." Nor were these the only interests of the 
State looked after, and carefully managed. The State 
prison was about made to pay its own expenses ; the 
Reform School for juvenile offenders received the same 
appropriation as ever, as did the Retreat for the Insane 
and the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. The same pro- 
vision was made for the blind and for imbeciles, and for 
the sick in the State Hospital, while nothing could exceed 
the liberality and tender care bestowed both by public 
appropriations and by private charities upon the sufferers 
by the war. While Secession States were entirely neglect- 
ing their educational institutions, if not sinking their funds 
for such purposes in the abyss of their rebellion, this State 
was carefully increasing such investments, and taxing 
herself more freely than ever for such purposes. The Leg- 
islature of Missouri, though the State never succeeded 
in getting out of the Union, sunk all her handsome 
school fund in a vain attempt to do so, while the Governor 
of Connecticut was reporting that her school fund, which 
for sixty years had been kept intact and steadily aug- 
mented, was as useful as ever, and that with all the 
burdens of war, "the sum raised for the support of public 
schools by voluntary taxation had been more than doubled 
during the year." No wonder this message secured the 
confidence of the people in the leadership of the Governor, 
for it not only showed him to be patriotic, but wise and 
prudent ; as able in his financial management, as success- 
ful in raising troops ; as mindful of all the interests of the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 213 

Commonwealth, as of its liberties and the necessity of the 
Union; as well aware of the perils of our condition and 
apprehensive of what we might be caMed to suffer, as 
he was confident of what ought to be done, and what 
we might expect to accomplish in a cause so righteous. 
While he summons the people to his side in such clarion 
tones, it is with no concealment of the battle scenes that 
lie before them, where if thej do not fall themselves, they 
will bury together in common grief and glory, their dear- 
est sons and noblest heroes. " To press this contest to a 
final settlement, more prolonged and vigorous efforts may 
be required, and more costly sacrifices demanded. Other 
years of anxiety, and labor, and pecuniary embarrassment 
may intervene; the burdens of taxation may still be 
heavier ; the battles of Roanoke Island, Donelson and 
Pittsburg Landing may be again fought on the mountains 
of Virginia and in the valleys of the Mississippi; blood, 
which has ever been the price of liberty, may flow more 
copiously in new fields of strife and carnage ; the lives of 
other sons, even the life of Benjamin, may be required on 
the altar of our common country; these penalties so severe, 
these sacrifices so heart-rending; the results of this unholy 
rebellion against constitutional liberty, are monuments 
established by the providence of God, as a warning to all 
coming generations against the repetition of the damning 
crime. By such efforts and such sacrifices, the sword, 
under Divine guidance, will render a just decision, and re- 
turn to its scabbard." 

By April of this year, within twelve months after the 
rebellion broke out, the cause of the Union had gained 
such strength and made such progress that the Northern 
States were greatly encouraged, and began to expect that 
another year would end the struggle. The blockade had 
pretty well sealed up the Southern ports, and with the diffi- 
culty of importing supplies for the people at home and of 



214 WILLIAM A. CUCKIiNGHAM. 

exporting cotton to sustain the credit of the Confederacy 
abroad, the financial prospects of the South were becoming 
dark. The Federal government had also taken possession 
of Ilatteras Inlet, and the country stretching back for 150 
miles into North Carolina. It was occupying the fine 
harbor of Port Royal, just in the rear of both Charleston 
and Savannah. It had possessed itself of Fort Pulaski, 
which commanded the port of Savannah. Admiral Farra- 
gut was just forcing his way past the defenses of New 
Orleans, and within a ffw days General Butler's land forces 
would be holding secure possession of that bitterly hostile 
city. Commodore Foote had organized his invulnerable 
gunboat fleet on the Upper Mississippi, with which he had 
cleared the way for General Grant to take Forts Henry 
and Donelson and win that desperate victory at Pittsburgh 
Landing, and with which he himself had reduced those 
formidable works on Island No. 10, scattered everything 
before him in his attack uj)on Memphis, and virtually anni- 
hilated the whole Confederate navy above Vicksburg. 
Finally the construction and arrival of the Monitor at For- 
tress Monroe, to forever deliver us from the fear of Con- 
federate ironclads, and save us from the loss of that bay 
and connecting waters, was an event of such importance in 
the history of the war, as greatly to brighten our prospects. 
It was not strange, therefore, that the North heartily 
responded to the recommendation of the President and the 
loyal governors to observe a day of public thanksgiving lo 
Almighty God for the advance of their cause and the flat- 
tering prospects of the Union. 

And yet at this very time the Army of the Potomac was 
about to meet with its worst defeat, and this to be succeeded 
by the invasion cf the free States and the battle of Antietam, 
which though not a defeat was barely a victory, and to bo 
followed by three years more of such ta.^ation, volunteering, 
fighting, sacrifice of human life, and mourning all over. the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 215 

North as well as at the South, as had never been conceived of. 
But by this time the free States, like Connecticut, had made 
up their minds that, cost what it might, the sacrifice must 
be made, and there was no drawing back. 

General McClellan had succeeded General Scott as com- 
mander-in-chief of the army. He was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, though of Connecticut stock, being a great-grandson 
of Captain McClellan, who represented Connecticut in the 
battle of Bunker Hill. He had been educated at West 
Point, where Generals Burnside and Reno on the Union 
side, and General Stonewall Jackson among the Confed- 
erates, were his classmates, and where he led his class in 
mathematics. He had also been sent as a member of a 
military commission to report on the condition of the 
armies of Europe, and observe the operations of both sides 
in the Crimean war, and his report of the "Armies of 
Europe " is regarded as " a model of fullness, accuracy, 
and system." At the head of the Ohio volunteers he was 
so successful after a brief campaign in driving the Con- 
federate forces out of Western Virginia, that, with his 
accomplishments, brief experience and remarkable suc- 
cess, his promotion to the head of the army was received 
with general approval, and not a little enthusiasm. No 
doubt more was expected' of him than it was in the power 
of any man to accomplish, but he had qualities, attainments 
and a character which justified the highest expectations. 
He was also a man of pure morals, deeply religious, win- 
ning in his manners, sincere in his friendships, and devoted 
to the welfare of his soldiers. 

He was the idol of his officers and men, who would obey him when 
all other control had failed. '"In the opinion of many, however," it 
is added, "he was unduly careful of his troops, so that his power to 
organize was neutralized by his caution in the field." — [Appleton^s 
Biographical Dictionary. 



216 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

When General McClellan was summoned to Washington, 
just after the battle of Bull Run, and put in command of 
all the Union armies, it was to take personal command of 
the Army of the Potomac and reorganize it, and also to 
provide a suitable system of fortifications for the defense 
of the national capital. For this he was well qualified ; 
better qualified probably than any other officer of the army, 
and in both these respects he accomplished his work with 
the greatest dispatch. As yet the national capital had 
been provided with no suitable defenses, and for a consider- 
able time the city could have been bombarded from the 
Georgetown Heights, and all its public buildings laid in 
ruins. This was a matter of the highest importance for 
what it implied, and for the use that would have been made 
of it, rather than for the intrinsic importance of the pos- 
session of the city, for it had been burned in the war of 
1812, without changing at all the result of that war. But 
such an achievement by the Confederates would have been 
likely to secure the acknowledgment of the Confederacy 
abroad, as an established power, and to open the Southern 
ports to foreign commerce. • The satisfactory completion of 
this work, therefore, so in accordance with the starting 
point of the administration in all its military operations, 
that the safety of the capital must be first assured, served 
to increase the reputation of the new general, and raise 
still higher the hopes of the nation in regard to him. 
Besides he had thoroughly reorganized and put a new 
spirit into his army. Its condition as he found it was any- 
thing but hopeful and inspiring. 

" I was suddenly called to Washington," he says, " on the day suc- 
ceeding the battle of Bull Run, and found myself assigned to the 
•command of that city, and of the troops gathered around it. All 
was chaos and despondency, the city was filled with intoxicated 
stragglers, and an attack was expected. The troops numbered less 
than 50,000, many of whom were so demoralized and undisciplined 
that they could not be relied upon even for defensive purposes. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 217 

Moreover, the term of service of a large part bad already expired, or 
was on the point of doing so." — [Cejitury Company'' s " War Book" 
Vol. II, p. 160. 

And jet within three months he had collected a force of 
134,255 men and nearly 300 guns, and was furnishing the men 
with every possible equipment and drilling them thoroughly 
in the best tactics of modern military schools. Within six 
months after he took the army in charge — or February 1, 
1862 — not long before he set out on his Peninsular cam- 
paign, he was at the head of a well-organized body of 
222,196 troops, 190,000 of them present for duty. Though 
these were not veterans, they were probably as good mate- 
rial, as well drilled, better equipped and more generously 
supplied with all they could need in a campaign, than any 
other army of the size that ever went into the field. Every- 
thing had been done to aid the young commander in this 
work. He was the favorite of General Scott, whom he 
succeeded. He was the hope of Mr. Lincoln, after all his 
perplexities and disappointments in selecting commanders 
for his armies. Mr. Stanton, who had succeeded Mr. 
Cameron as Secretary of War, gave him the benefit of his 
great strength and determination, and furnished him with 
recruits ad libitum. The North, having given up the idea 
of a short war and nine-months' men, was going in for the 
war, however long it might last, and enlisting as never 
before. And when General McClellan marched this superb 
army out toward the enemy's lines at Manassas, as he did 
in the spring of 1862, it seemed as if he might have pushed 
right on to Richmond, for there was certainly no such army 
before him to prevent it, or fortifications to check it. 

But now came that sad period of hesitancy and delay 
and differences of opinion among the officers of the army 
and the members of the Cabinet, as to the plan of the cam- 
paign. The Army of the Potomac had been doing nothing 
hut recruiting for tlie last six months, which was perhaps 



218 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGUAM. 

all that it could do, and was certainly the best thing under 
the circumstances. But our military and naval successes 
elsewhere were not sufficient, so long as the Confederate 
army was confronting us, and threatening to invade the 
Northern States, if not to obtain possession of Washington. 
The enlistment also of so many able-bodied men, was not 
only a heavy draft upon the patriotism, as well as the 
industry of the people, but the war expenses were rolling 
up a debt which threatened to break down our national 
credit, if not to become a tax upon the country forever, as 
had been the case with other governments.* In such 
a state of things it had become a necessity that this fine 
army should be put to some use. The people were expect- 
ing it; the press was demanding it; the President and his 
cabinet were endeavoring to effect it. But General Mc- 
Clellan and the government with its military advisers, 
could not agree upon the plan of the campaign. He 
wanted to move upon Richmond by the way of the 
Peninsula. They, for the most part, preferred an ad- 
vance from the neighborhood of Washington, across the 
North and South Anna rivers, the route which General 
Grant afterwards took. President Lincoln was anxious 
to conform to the judgment and gratify the wishes of 
the promising commander whom he had placed in this 
position. And after stating his objections, and suggesting 
plans which seemed preferable to himself and to others, 
with the distinct stipulation that Washington should never 
be left uncovered, but always protected by the 30,000 or 
40,000 troops required to properly man the fortifications 
already erected, he gave his assent to General jMcClellan's 



*The cost of conducting the war, after it was fully inaugurated, was scarcely 
at any time less than §30,000,000 a month. At many times it far exceeded that 
amount. Sometimes it was not less than $90,000,000 a month ; and the average 
expenses o( the war, from its inception to its conclusion, may be said to have been 
about §2,000,000 each day. The public debt reached its maximum on August 31, 
18C.-), on which day it amounted to $3,845,907,636.56 — [-7 Q. Knox,' Ui,it,d ^talt* 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 219 

plan. Then he set about urging on and helping to carry 
out this plan, as earnestly as if it had been the one of 
his own choice. General McClellan must have all the 
troops he wanted, and he must have all the supplies he 
needed ; but he must take the field. While the Western 
armies, and our armies in the South, and our navy, had 
all been doing their work well, this Army of the Potomac 
had accomplished nothing, and indeed had attempted 
nothing since its defeat at Bull Run. No longer could in- 
action be tolerated, especially with the army in its enlarged 
and improved condition, and with its able and popular 
commander. 

Here the correspondence between General McClellan and 
the government, which is so abundant, sheds the fullest 
light upon the whole campaign, and discloses, as nothing 
else could, the character of the principal men conducting 
it, particularly the President and his commander-in-chief. 
When autumn came and before winter set in, there was a 
general expectation that the Potomac army would take the 
field, and General McClellan expresses this as his confident 
intention, and with high expectations of inflicting " a 
crushing defeat upon the rebel army at Manassas, not to be 
postponed beyond the 25th of November, if possible to 
avoid it." But when the autumn had passed, with beautiful 
weather for campaigning, and winter had set in and was 
passing too, with nothing more than the camp drill of the 
army and imposing reviews, and spring had fairly arrived 
and the government was becoming more and more anxious 
as to how long the country would bear such a draft of men, 
or the treasury could endure such war expenses, Mr. Lin- 
coln determined to get the army into the held and at work, 
if possible. He counseled it ; he urged it as a necessity ; 
he commanded it. He wrote private letters to General 
McClellan, full of useful suggestions and encouragement. 
He let him have his own way in regard to plana which he 



220 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

never approved of, and engaged to furnish him with all the 
troops he asked for, and was only prevented from furnish- 
ing any of them by the dangers that threatened elsewhere.* 
But move, that army must, as the President orders, through 
the Secretary of War, March 8, 1862. 

1. Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely 
certain that the enemy shall not repossess himself of that position 
and line of communication. 

2. Leave Washington entirely secure. 

3. Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing a 
new base at Fortress Monroe, or anywhere between here and there — 
or at all events, move such remainder of the army at once in pursuit 
of the enemy by some route. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

In a personal letter to General McClellan a little later, 
when he was encamped before Yorktown, the President 
writes : — 

And once more let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you 
strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me the jus- 
tice to remember, I always insisted that going down the bay in search 
of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting 
and not surmounting a difficulty; that we would find the same enemy, 
and the same or equal entrenchments, at either place. The country 
will not fail to note, is noting now, that the present hesitation to 
move upon an entrenched enemy, is but the story of Manassas 
repeated. — ^Letter of April 9. 

The Army of the Potomac was at last to move; it was 
to move upon Richmond by the way of the Peninsula — 
between the James and York rivers. Norfolk and its navy 
yard were then in possession of the Confederates, with the 
formidable "Merrimac," which had inflicted such injury 
upon our navy, (though the one was blown up, and the 
other burned soon after,) so that the York river had to be 



* This refers to General McClellaii's complaint to the President that he had not 
furnished him with all the troops he promised, meaning General McDowell's corps 
of 30,000 men, detached from the forces in the Valley of the Shenandoah, which 
had to be detained for the defense of Washington, though a considerable portion 
of them reached the Potomac army before that campaign was over, and were of 
€ssentia4 service in its operations. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 221 

depended upon for the transportation of army supplies, 
which were afterwards transferred to the James. The 
expedition was to set out from Fortress Monroe, at the 
foot of the Peninsula, and everything to he collected 
about this point, and sent up the York river to the White 
House, which became our base of supplies until the 
James was opened, and this base was changed to Harri- 
son's Landing. When the army set out, it was composed 
of not less than 70,000 or 80,000 troops, and as officially 
reported within a month afterwards, as it lay before 
Yorktown, its numbers had been swollen to 130,000, of 
whom 112,000 were present, fit for duty. There were 
veterans enough among them ; whole divisions and corps 
who had served in the Valley of the Shenandoah and 
elsewhere, and under such commanders as Fitz John 
Porter, Hooker, Sumner and others like them, who were 
not likely to give a poor account of themselves in any 
emergency. They had at least one arm of the service 
at their command, which never had its equal; a train 
of sixty heavy siege guns, which saved the army from 
annihilation at Malvern Hill, and afterwards proved our 
make-weight in more than one crisis of the war. * Such 
a collection of men and animals, artillepy and wagons, 
baggage and forage, and supplies of every description, 
was never brought together for any other expedition.! It 
required a whole fleet of vessels and weeks of time to 
collect all these troops and supplies from every quarter, 
and land them on the Peninsula, nearest the army. And 
when moved by land, we do not wonder that their long 



* We refer to the siege train furnished for this expedition by the First Connecti- 
cut Heavy Artillery, which the Count de Paris, as a military critic, commends so 
highly for its organization and effectiveness. 

tWhen the movement by Fortress Monroe was determined upon, there were 
chartered 113 steamers, 188 schooners and 88 barges, with which in thirty-seven 
days there were transported to Fortress Monroe 121,500 men. 14,592 animals, 1,150 
wagons, 44 batteries and 74 ambulances, besides a vast quantity of equipage — 
1 Draper'g " Civil War," Vol- 2. p- 378. 



222 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

trains sometimes stretched thirty or forty miles on those 
single roads, and seriously interfered with the most im- 
portant military movements. And yet we are surprised, 
when we come to read of the fahulous amount of sup- 
plies destroyed on our retreat, to save them from the 
enemy; of whole freight trains run into the river; of a 
complete ammunition train driven into a hurning ])ridge 
to destroy the ammunition; and of arras enough left be- 
hind to arm whole regiments of the enemy. It really 
seems as if our wealth of supplies was the hindrance 
to our advance, and that if we had not waited for them 
all we might have reached Richmond sooner. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Peninsular Campaign. 

The Magnificent Army of the Potomac — Its Movement on Riclimond 
by Way of tlie Peninsula — The Retreat Across the Chickahominy 
—The Week of Battles— Malvern Hill. 

It was the 4th of April, 1862, when General McClellan 
with his grand ai'uiy set out for Richmond. As so much was 
expected from this expedition — the capture of Richmond, 
and most liliely the closing up of the war — and as the 
Eastern States had been recruiting this army, and Connec- 
ticut and her Governor had taken a noble part in it, its 
operations assumed the deepest importance to them, as 
they soon did to all. For the next three months the anxi- 
ety and anguish caused by this campaign absorbed the in- 
terest of the country, and Richmond no less than Washing- 
ton, and the South equally with New England, thrilled with 
every telegraphic dispatch, until it seemed as if that last 
" week of battles," with each succeeding day of fiercer fight- 
ing and deadlier loss, would break the nation's heart. 

The distance from Fortress Monroe to Richmond was 
seventy miles in a direct line. Two or three days brought 
the army to Yorktown, where the British army surrendered 
to the combined troops of France and the Colonies, and 
our war of the Revolution was closed. The old fortifi- 
cations remained, and these enlarged and strengthened 
would have commanded the Peninsula pretty well, if the 
Confederate force had been sufficient to man them prop- 
erly. But General Magruder had not more than eight 
thousand troops for that purpose, and he had been ordered 
to withdraw them as our army approached, fie, how- 



224 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

ever, was determined to maintain his position if possible, 
knowing that his disobedience would be pardoned if suc- 
cessful. So by his incessant activity and bold show of 
resistance, General McClellan was deterred from an 
assault, and deliberately sat down before the place to 
reduce it by a regular siege. An entire month was occu- 
pied in this, when the success of the expedition depended 
upon dispatch. Richmond was in no proper state of 
defense. The Confederacy was particularly exhausted of 
troops and funds, and discouraged by the Union successes. 
Then some of her best troops and commanders had becu 
ordered elsewhere, like Stonewall Jackson to the Shenan- 
doah valley, to draw away more of our force from Wash- 
ington.* General McClellan's chief engineer through the 
campaign, reports to his commander at the close, that 
it was a mistake not to have assaulted those works at once, 
instead of subjecting the army to such hardships and 
toil in the trenches, and such malarial sickness in those 
swamps, and allowing the enemy so much time to re- 
cover their courage, gather their forces and commanders 
from a distance, and even pass and enforce a conscrip- 
tion law within this and the following month. These 
siege works were completed, and on the 6th of May 
were to have opened upon the enemy, when it was found 
that he had quietly withdrawn. 

•^ At tbe time the Army of the Potomac landed oa the Peninsula, the Rebel 
cause was at its lo\/est ebb ; its armies were demoralized by the defeats of Port 
Royal, Mill Spring, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Roanoke Island and Pea Ridge ; 
and reduced by sickness, loss in battle, expirations of period of service, etc. ; while 
the conscription law was not yet even passed. It seemed as if it needed but one 
vigorous gripe to end forever this rebellion, so nearly throttled. How then 
happened it, that the day of the initiation of the campaign of this magnificent 
Army of the Potomac, was the day of the resuscitation of the Rebel cause, which 
seemed to grow pari passu, with the slow progress of its operations? 

Our troops toiled a month in tlie trenches, or lay in the swamps of Warwick ; we 
lost few men by the siege ; but disease took a fearful hold of the army; and 
toil and hardship unredeemed by the excitement of combat, impaired their morale. 
We did not carry with us from Yorktown so good an army as we took there Of 
the bitter fruits of that month gained by the enemy, we have tasted to our heart's 
content.— Genral John G. Barnard's Revolt,—" Greeley,'' Vol. 2, p. 122. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 225 

The army then moved on to Williamsburg, where it 
encountered more serious opposition. The Confederate 
army, under General Joseph E. Johnston, was being vigor- 
ously re-enforced with Longstreet's division of their main 
army and Jackson's veterans from the valley of the Shen- 
andoah, and several of the best of their commanders. 
When General Johnston was severely wounded soon after 
at Fair Oaks, General Robert E. Lee took command, and 
he gathered about him the best military advisers of the 
Confederacy. At times President Davis was upon the field, 
if he did not personally command in some of the battles. 
At any rate, our army had no sooner approached Williams- 
burg, than they found themselves confronted by Longstreet, 
occupying a formidable series of redoubts, from which we, 
without any knowledge of the position or the force holding 
it, undertook to dislodge them, with heavy loss. General 
McClellan was not at hand, having remained behind to for- 
ward tlie army. Of the corps commanders. General Stone- 
man of the cavalry, suffering from the fire of the redoubts, 
and obliged to leave one of his guns stuck immovably in 
the swamp, had retired a little to wait for the infantry, 
when General Sumner, whose rank gave him the command, 
hearing the battle, pushed on, and was all ready to take 
part in it, when " darkness shut him in, and he was obliged 
to wait for the morning. Insisting upon reconnoitering 
the enemy's position in person, he fell among their pickets, 
was fired upon at short range, became lost in a swamp 
from which he was unable to extricate himself, and passed 
the entire night at the foot of a tree between the two hos- 
tile lines." But General Hooker was at hand the next 
morning, and though he could obtain no orders he 
began his work early, and sustained the fight alone for 
nine long hours, and until he had been obliged to engage 
his very last men and supply them with ammunition from 
their fallen comrades. Fortunately, toward the middle of 



22d WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

the afternoon, -General Kearney appeared with his division 
and pressed to the front, allowing General Hooker's thinned 
regiments to withdraw and bo held as a reserve, while ho at 
this point, and General Hancock on his right, by desperate 
fighting held the Confederates back until the next morning, 
when they had abandoned their position. This first clieck, 
however, had been attended with fearful loss, particularly 
to General Hooker's division, who reports it at 1,575 killed, 
wounded and missing. General McClellan makes the total 
loss that day 2,228. 

It was now two months since the Potomac army set out 
for Richmond, but it was only halfway there, and had only 
fought its first battle, and was about to plunge into the 
swamps of the Chickahominy, which seem an unheard- 
of place for campaigning with siege trains and batteries of 
heavy artillery. This stream, which comes within four or 
five miles of Richmond and runs off toward the southeast, 
is at its ordinary stage not more than fifty feet wide, 
fringed with a dense growth of forest trees, and bordered 
by low, marshy lands, varying from half a mile to a mile 
in width. It is subject to sudden and great freshets, and a 
violent storm, however brief, swells the stream and over- 
flows those bottom lands, until it is impassable except by 
long and strong bridges. The whole surrounding country 
will be more or less under water, and woe to troops that 
get caught at a disadvantage in trying to push their col- 
umns, especially with their baggage trains and heavy bat- 
teries, through the pitfalls of such a region. 

At tlie time uf this advance on Richmond the cause of the Confed- 
eracy was at a low ebh. Norfolk had been taken and burned, and 
nothing but the works at Drury's Bluff prevented the James river 
from being open up to the city. The danger then was felt to be so 
great tliat the archives were shipped to Columbia, S. C, Jiiid the 
nublic treasures were kept on cars ready for removnl. The city vvas 
i.ot fortified, and there were few troops there. Heforo McClellnn 



WiLLJAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 227 

was near the city, troops had been assembled iu large numbers and 
fortifications thrown up on the side that was threatened. — " IVar 
Book," Vol. 11,2). 203. 

Tl;e Confederacy put its artoy under General Joseph E. 
Johnston, one of their ablest generals, to be succeeded 
by General Lee. It called to their aid such men as 
Stonewall Jackson, Longstreet, Ewell and the Hills. And 
they brought with them large numbers of veteran troops, 
as well as raw conscripts. Jackson brought with him 
30,000 of such veterans. The Confederates were for a 
long time perplexed to divine McClellan's plans, and 
when they did, had he not changed them, it seems as 
it they would have involved the loss of his whole army. 
He set out to go to Richmond along the north side of 
the Chickahominy, and at one time his advance was 
within four miles of the city. But in doing so, he had 
allowed his army to be divided by the river. He had 
posted two-thirds of his army on the north side of the 
Chickahominy and left the other third on the south side, 
between which there could be no communication except 
across that uncertain stream and those unstable bridges; 
even then they nmst march a dozen miles to make any 
connection, while the Confederates in front of Richmond 
had only to march four or five miles to support any of 
their movements. Johnston was quick to take advantngo 
of this situation. Leaving only six brigades to hold iu 
check the bulk of our army on the north side of the 
river, he launched the other twenty-eight brigades of 
his army upon the two corps of Heintzelman and Keyes 
on the south side, enough to cri^sh them with mere 
weight of numbers, had it not been for the prompt and 
magnanimous succor they received from General Sum- 
ner. He had been ordered to render them assistance 
should they need it, but without waiting until tliey difl 
need it, he prepared to furnish it. He built two biidges 



228 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

across the swollen river, one of which was at once car- 
ried away, and the other was almost submerged. But 
he was already upon it with his troops and batteries, 
holding it down by their very weight until his support 
was demanded, when, plunging into the mud beyond, 
where his heavier artillery stuck fast, only to be extri- 
cated and sent forward by morning, he pushed on with his 
infantry in the direction of the firing to encounter the last 
Confederate charge, in which our troops, after a day of hard 
lighting, had been driven back a mile and a half, and but 
for which we had lost that all-important battle. As show- 
ing the severity of the fighting, as well as its influence upon 
the campaign, it is enough to know that on the Confederate 
side General Pettigrew was wounded, supposed to be mor- 
tally, and taken prisoner, and General Hatton killed at his 
side ; also General Hampton was severely wounded, while 
General Johnston, chief in command, and conducting the 
whole campaign, was twice wounded and taken from the 
field, no more to resume command ; while on our side, out 
of Keyes' corps of 12,000 men, 4,000 were dead or wounded 
three hours after the first day's fight began. This check 
led to the abandonment of the object of the expedition — 
the capture of Richmond — and finally forced upon us that 
disastrous retreat which almost annihilated our magnifi- 
cent army. 

Here tlie campaign reached its crisis. The plans of both 
commanders had failed. That adopted by General Johns- 
ton, and to have been carried out by General Lee, was, 
when they found our army divided by the river, to hold 
one portion of it in check by an inferior force, and with a 
superior force herd and drive the other portion down the 
Chickahominy, cut them off from their base of supplies on 
the York river, and capture them all at their leisure. The 
))lan barely failed of success. As it was, on the second 
day our troops reoccupied the ground they had lost, and 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 229 

after a little fif^hting under General Lee the battle died 
away by the gradual retirement of the Confederates. But 
General McClellan made no movement in advance upon 
Richmond. This has been thought to have been his great 
opportunity. 

Jackson was still in the valley of the Shenandoah, detachinj^ from 
Lee an army of 16,000 men. The enemy had thrown almost his 
whole force against McClellan's left wing and had received more 
injury than he inflicted. Our right wing was intact, the material for 
bridging the upijcr Chickahominy had been ready for three days, the 
Confederate aimy was streaming back to Richmond in discourage- 
ment and disorder. — [Nicolay & Hay, in " The Century'" of October, 
1888, p. 933. 

And the Prince de Joinville, McClellan's ardent friend, is 
quoted as saying that he had missed " an unique oppor- 
tunity of striking a blow." General Barnard, General 
McClellan's chief engineer, was also of the same opinion.* 
It was three weeks before General McClellan advanced, 
and then he continued on the south side of the river, only 
to find that General Lee had used the time to fortify Rich- 
mond and collect an army almost equal to his own. Then 
came the " week of battles," terrible in loss on both sides, 
and fruitless of results. 

The " week of battles " has been conveniently arranged 
for reference by Draper, as follows : — 

The First Day — Thursday, 26th of June — Mechanicsville or Beaver 

Dam. 
The Second Day — Friday, 27th of June — The Chickahominy, Gaines' 

Mill, or Cold Harbor. 
The Third Day — Saturday, 28th of June — The retreat. 
The Fourth Day — Sunday, 29th of June — Savage Station. 
The Fifth Day — Monday, 30th of June — Frazier's Faim. 



* The repulse of the rebels at Fair Oaks should have been taken advantage of. 
It was one of those "occasions " which, if not seized, do not repeat themselves. 
We now know the state of disorganization and dismay in whicli the rebel army 
retreated. We now know that it could have been followed into Richmond. Had 
it been so, there would have been no resistance to overcome to bring over our right 
wing.— [■• Ceritury," November, 1888, p. 933. 



230 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The Sixth Day— Tuesday, 1st of July— Malvern Hill. 

The Seventh Day — Wednesday, 2d of July — Reached Harrison's 

Landing and the slielter of the gunboats. 

The first of these battles was fought Thursday, the 26th 
of June, at Mechanicsville, or Beaver Dam, twelve or 
fifteen miles out of Richmond. According to General 
Webb's estimate, than whom there is no better authority, 
Lee had at this time 80,762 men, and McClellan 92,500, 
and each army was of the best material the country 
afforded. General Lee was about to launch almost his 
entire army against General McClellan's right wing, on 
the north side of the Chickahominy, where the greater 
part of McClellan's army lay, and from the support of 
which his two corps on the south side were likely to be 
cut off. For General Lee was already holding them there 
by 25,000 troops thrown between them and Richmond, 
while he began his operations on the other side of the 
river, at Beaver Dam and Gaines' Mill, with 60,000 of 
his best troops, under such commanders as Longstreet, 
the two Hills, Whiting, Hood and Ewell. Besides Stone- 
wall Jackson had arrived with his veterans, and was 
being pushed down the Peninsula, to cut off the Union 
army from their base of supplies on the York rivei-, 
and to cut them up generally in their expected retreat. 
It was a bold plan, if not a reckless one, when the Union 
army was somewhat superior to the Confederates in num- 
bers, and quite superior in its heavy artillery, and when 
the strength of its commander lay in selecting and forti- 
fying good positions, which he might be expected to hold 
tenaciously. We must think that General Lee had the 
same "confidence in McClellan's want of enterprise," that 
General Johnston says he possessed. Beaver Dam was 
naturally a strong position just across a little stream 
that ran into the Chickahominy. It was held by Fitz 
John Porter's corps of 27,000 men, and the brunt of 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 231 

the battle was to fall upon General McCall's Pennsyl- 
vania Reserves, which had just been sent as reinforce- 
ments, and had never been in action. The attack was 
made by the three Confederate corps of Longstreet and 
of the two Hills, and to be met by General Porter, ably 
supported by Seymour, Meade and Reynolds, of the last 
two of whom it has been said: "The one gained an 
undying fame, and the other a glorious death at Gettys- 
burg." The heaviest and most persistent blows fell 
upon these fresh reserves, who showed such enthusiasm 
and endurance, that when they had held the center of 
the position from 3 o'clock in the afternoon until after 
sunset, had exhausted their ammunition, and were to 
have been withdrawn, they only asked for more ammu- 
nition, and to be allowed to remain, where they held 
their ground until the last charge was made, and the 
whole rebel host had fallen back. They were a part 
of that "perfectly appointed division of ten thousand 
men and five batteries of artillery" from Pennsylvania, 
under General McCall, with which. General McClellan had 
just telegraphed the government : — 

I shall be in perfect readiness to move forward and take Richmond 
the moment McCall reaches here, and the ground will admit of the 
passage of artillery. — [•' Century,'' Vol. II, p. 134. 

The whole battle was a series of desperate charges; 
masses of brave and well-led men launched against a 
strong position, and numerous and heavy batteries, the 
Confederates charging them first in front, and then at- 
tempting to turn them on the one side, and then on the 
other, to be repulsed at every point, and this repeated 
through all that intensely hot summer afternoon, and 
until the shades of night had settled down over a terribly 
bloody field. General D. H. Hill on the Confederate side, 
who lield an important command in that engagement, hat> 
thus described it : — 



232 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM, 

The enemy had entrenchments of great strength and development 
on the other side of the creek, and had lined the banks with his 
magnificent artillery. The approach was over an open plain exposed 
to a murderous fire of all arms, and across an almost impassable 
stream. The result was, as might have been expected, a bloody 
and disastrous repulse. IVearly every field officer in the brigade 
of my division which led the way was killed or wounded. We were 
lavish of blood in those days, and it was thought to be a great thing 
to charge a battery of artillery, or an earth-work lined with infantry. 
'*It is magnificent, but it is not war," was the sarcastic remark of the 
French general, as he looked on at the British cavalry charge at 
Balaklava. The attacks on the Beaver Dam entrenchments, on the 
heights of Malvern Hill, at Gettysburg, etc., were all grand, but 
of exactly the kind of grandness which the South could not afford. — 
" War Book," Vol. II, p. 352. 

General Porter, encouraged by his success in holding his 
position 80 firmly, and with no more loss, urged General 
McClellan, his personal friend, to seize the opportunity and 
" let him hold his own at the Beaver Dam line, while he (Mc- 
Clellan) moved the main body of his army upon Richmond." 
General McClellan hesitated as to what he would do, and 
when he left General Porter at 10 o'clock that night, was 
undecided, but between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning 
sent him orders to fall back six miles to Gaines' Mill — 
famous thereafter as the battlefield of that name, as it is 
called by Southern writers — a battle that was to take place 
the next day. 

The position selected was along a creek running through 
boggy swamps and tangled brush, where the higher land 
back of it was covered with a dense forest, which served to 
conceal in a measure the troops posted there, and where, 
through openings occupied by numerous and heavy bat- 
teries that swept every approach, assaults, however fierce 
and well supported, were almost sure to fail. Though 
General Porter was expected to hold the position '' with 
hardly more than one-third of the host which was marcii- 
ing by every road on the west and north to destroy him," 
and though his calls for re-enforcements were unanswered, 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM.-^ 233 

except that General Slocum's division was sent him near 
the close of the day and rendered important service, he 
made with his troops such a magnificent fight that the 
Century's " History of Abraham Lincoln " expresses its 
regret that, " in spite of his subsequent history, he had not 
commanded the entire Army of the Potomac that day." 

There were the best generals of the South, and among them 
the redoubta.ble Jackson, whose corps, though marching with less 
than its usual celerity, had turned Beaver Uam the night before, 
and had now arrived at the post assigned them opposite Porter's 
right. General Lee commanded on the field in person, and Jefferson 
Davis contributed whatever his presence was worth. — [" Ceniur?/," 
November, 1888, p. 1.39. 

The battle began at noon, and at evening, after seven 
hours of constant fighting, the Union line had been broken 
and was being driven back, when the last of their re-enforce- 
ments arrived, and the enemy, thinking it larger than it 
was, withdrew for the night. It was not, however, until 
Porter had lost 4,000 in killed and wounded — one-sixth of 
his force — and Lee had suffered in still greater proportion. 
But he had failed of his object ; he had not dislodged the 
Union army from its position and driven it down the Chicka- 
hominy. Such was the second day of that week of battles, 
Friday, the 27th. 

Here was reached the crisis of this campaign on both 
sides. The campaign of the Potomac army against Rich- 
mond, for which such vast preparations had been made, 
and in the success of which the North had such confidence, 
was abandoned.* The most that could be hoped for was 
to save the army. In his dispatches to the War Depart- 
ment that night, after this battle at Gaines' Mill, and before 
the result was fully known. General McClellan says : — 



* General Franklin states that the Prince de Joinville. who was just leavins the 
army with the two French princes, who had been upon General McClellan's staff 
ever since he left Fortress Monroe, said to him with great emphasis at parting: 
■"General, advise General McClellan to concentrate his army at this point and fight 
a battle to-day ; if he does, he will be in Richmond to-morrow." 



2o4 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

" The loss on both sides is terrible. I believe it will prove to be the most 
desperate battle of the war. . . . Had I 20,000 or even 10,000 t resh 
troops to use to-morrow! But I have not a man in reserve, and I shall 
be {Tjlad to cover my retreat and save the material and personnel of 
the army. If we have lost the day, we have yet preserved our honor, 
and no one need blush for the Army of the Potomac." 

And then, in his disappointment and vexation, he pet- 
tishly throws the blame of it upon the government: — 

"I have lost this battle because my force was too small. I a<fain 
repeat that I am not responsible for this. I still hope to retrieve 
our fortunes, but to do this the government must view the matter in 
the same earnest light that 1 do. You must send me very large 
re-enforcements, and send them at once. ... I only wish to say 
to the President, that I think that he is wrong in regarding me as 
ungenerous, when I said that my force was too weak. As it is, the 
government must not and cannot hold me responsil)le for the result. 
I feel too earnestly to-night. I have seen too many dead and wounded 
comrades to feel otherwise than that the government has not sus- 
tained this army. If you do not do so now, the game is lost. If I 
save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you, or 
to any other person in Washington. You have done your best to 
sacrifice this army." — [Greeley, p. 158. 

And this after the unheard-of exertions of the President, 
and the War Department, and the governors of the Northern 
States, and all loyal people to furnish that superb army, 
and the difficulty the government had to induce him to 
make any use of it. At this very time, in fact, Secretary 
Stanton telegraphed, assuring him that there had never 
been a moment when it was not his desire to aid him with 
his " whole heart, mind, and strength." 

The President's response to the dispatches addressed to 
him, is kind and magnanimous beyond conception. After 
all his patience with his young general's exorbitant de- 
mands, and exaggerated fears of the strength of his enemy, 
and complaints that Washington is not left exposed to 
strengthen him, Mr, Lincoln replies: "Your three dis- 
patches of yesterday, ending with the statomont (hat you 



WILLIAM A. BUCKING HAM. 235 

completely succeeded in making your point, are very grati- 
fying. The later one, suggesting the probability of your 
being overwhelmed by 200,000 men, and talking of to 
whom the responsibility will belong, pains me much. I 
give you all I can, and act on the presumption that you 
will do the best you can with what you have; while you 
continue — ungenerously, I think — to assume that I could 
give you more if I would. 1 have omitted, I shall omit no 
opportunity to send you re-enforcements whenever I can." 
To this he adds: "Save your army at all events. Will 
send re-enforcements as fast as we can. Of course they 
cannot reach you to-day, to-morrow, or next day. I have 
not said you were ungenerous for saying you needed re en- 
forcements. I thought you were ungenerous in assuming 
that 1 did not send them as fast as I could. I feel any 
misfortune to you and your army quite as keenly as you 
feel it yourself. If you have had a drawn battle or repulse, 
it is the price we pay for the enemy not being in Washing- 
ton. We protected Washington, and the enemy concen- 
trated on you. Had we stripped Washington, he would 
have been upon us, before the troops sent could have got to 
you. Less than a week ago you notified us that reinforce- 
ments were leaving Richmond to come in front of us. It 
is the nature of the case, and it is neither you nor the govern- 
ment that is to blame." 

This battle to which General McClellan refers in his dis- 
patch of the 28th, and which he speaks of as " likely to 
prove the most desperate battle of the war," was that of 
"• Gaines' Mill," which was fought the day before. 

"Out of 35,000 men engaged, the Federals had nearly 7,000 killed 
and wounded. The assailants had suffered even more, but they had 
achieved a signal victory," says the Count of Paris. — ['* History of Our 
Vicil War," Vol. II, p. 104. 

(xeneral McClellan, finding himself opposed by an equal 
or superior force, deprived of support from one-third of his 



286 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

army which was held on the other side of the Chicka- 
hoininy by the enemy, and knowin<^ that he was liable to 
be cut off from his base of supplies on the York river, de- 
cided to retreat if possible to the James, across White Oak 
swamp. The undertaking; was a prodigious one. Not that 
the distance was great, for it was only a dozen or fifteen 
miles to ilar'-ison's Landing, where the army would be 
under the protection of the fleet, and find a new base of 
supplies in direct connection with Portress Monroe and 
the whole Atlantic coast. But that swamp — White Oak — 
than which there could have been no worse country for 
military operations, unless it was the bayous of Louisiana; 
that White Oak creek, which ran for miles between the 
two rivers and needed to be bridged for crossing, and was 
affected by every rain ; that region was to be crossed by an 
army of nearly 100,000 men, with all their supplies and 
artillery, and this, too, in the presence of a watchful enemy 
of almost equal strength, and exulting in victory. Then 
there was only one road for this immense army train; or 
rather there was but one until another overgrown and un- 
used one was discovered, which allowed a parallel column 
of march, while these two poor roads were intersected by 
half a dozen better ones to and from Richmond, through 
which at any time the whole Confederate army might be 
concentrated upon them, entangled among such swamps, 
ravines and forests. But when the retreat was decided 
upon, it was wisely planned and vigorously executed. On 
the afternoon (Friday, June 27th) of General McClellan's 
defeat at Gaines' Mill, he v/ithdrew a portion of his 
troops across to the south side of the Chickahominy, 
whence they could be easily recalled if needed. He also 
collected an additional force of troops and batteries at the 
north end of the bridge, upon the protection of which de- 
pended the passage of those army corps, which for the last 
two diiys had been fighting such severe battles. That, night 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 237 

the retreat was decided on, and at 10 o'clock the next 
morning, Saturday, the 28th, his troops had all been with- 
drawn from the north side of the river, and the bridge 
burned behind them. He removed his headquarters to the 
neighborhood of Savage's Station, not far from White Oak 
bridge, the key to the whole movement in that retreat. 
He sent his orders and a map of the general movement 
to each of the commanders before noon of that day. He 
ordered General Keyes to press on at once across White 
Oak swamp with his corps, and select and occupy positions 
on the other side, and then push on to Malvern Hill, which 
proved to be the last and impregnable stronghold of the 
campaign, and which he reached with all his artillery and 
trains early on the morning of the 30th, the very day of the 
battle of Malvern Hill. General Porter was to follow him, 
and he pushed on to the river, where the trains, as they 
arrived, were massed at Haxall's Landing, under cover of 
the gunboats. Sumner, Heintzelman and Smith were to 
guard the rear, while Hooker, Slocum, Kearny and others 
were always at hand to do their appointed work, and con- 
tribute to the success of that critical movement. 

While such plans and movements were going on, General 
Lee seems to have been strangely oblivious to what was 
taking place in the Army of the Potomac. This whole 
army seems to have been across the Chickahominy and well 
started for the James before he knew anything about it. 
He certainly did nothing for the first twenty-four hours to 
hinder it. Instead of taking advantage of our defeat the 
day before and pushing his advantage, the next morning 
had come, the morning of Saturday, the 28th, and he did 
not find out whether General McClellan was moving upon 
Richmond, or had set out for the James river, or might be 
expected to recross the Chickahominy and push down the 
York river again, as he had hitherto attempted. General 
Lee was misled by his confidence in his own plans. He 



238 WILLIAM A. BUGKINOHAM. 

felt sure that when his troops had all arrived and he could 
concentrate an army of 80,000 men against McClellan, he 
should be able to sweep that whole army as a disorganized 
mob down the Peninsula, cutting them off from their base 
of supplies and capture them and their supply trains at 
his leisure. He presumed, as his friends say he always did, 
upon McClellan's hesitancy and reluctance to risk a battle 
outside his own fortifications, and did not believe he would 
risk the passage of White Oak swamp with his great army 
and heavy train of stores. And here he allowed General Mc- 
Clellan a start of twenty-four hours, which resulted in the 
latter gaining the key to the position — White Oak bridge. 
Then, of course, he moved his troops in force and with 
vigor, around by the way of Richmond, under Longstreet 
and Hill, and from the opposite direction under Jackson. 

In the meantime, General McClellan's plans were carried 
out to the letter. One of the necessities imposed upon him 
was to transport his immense army supplies across that 
swamp, besides destroying what could not be carried, and 
leaving behind him his sick and wounded. Three days' 
rations for 100,000 soldiers and 20,000 non-combatauts, 
five days' forage for 40,000 horses, 350 pieces of artillery, 
and a herd of 2,500 driven cattle made a formidable ti-ain 
to get through such a country. Then we are told of the 
burning of a " mountain of coffee, rice, biscuit, and liams 
as a sort of holocaust offered to the god of war," and of a 
railroad train of shells and ammunition set on fire, driven 
through a burning bridge, to be plunged into the river, and 
of a well-appointed hospital of 2,500 sick and wounded, 
with surgeons and nurses left behind at Savage Station, 
and coinmouded ti) the humanity of the Confederates. 
And still that army, with all the munitions of war and 
supplies enough for that campaign, and even those heavy 
siege guns, which it seemed foolish to take upon such an 
ex[)edition, and wbicii yet proved the make-weight in the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 239 

final battle, were transported safely over those two bad 
roads in spite of all that was done to break them up. The 
troops by day pushed on to seize and hold defensible posi- 
tions, while the baggage trains and rear guard moved up 
by night to reach these positions, and this process was 
repeated, the troops fighting by day and the trains march- 
ing by night, until they had fought victoriously their last 
battle, and were resting securely under the guns of the 
fleet on the James river. 

On the 28th, the first day of the retreat, there was less 
fighting than on any other day of that bloody week. The 
Confederate army was virtually idle, and whatever fighting 
was done was mostly with artillery, and at a distance. On 
Sunday, the 29th, General Lee sent Longstreet and A. P. 
Hill around by the way of Richmond, and Jackson from 
the opposite direction, to assail McClellan's line of retreat. 
It was too late, and at the close of this second day of the 
retreat, the 29th, General McClellan had taken successfully 
the first and most difficult step of this movement. He had 
succeeded " in placing White Oak swamp between his army 
and the main body of his adversaries, and in surmounting 
this serious obstacle without losing either a cannon or a 
vehicle." It was not, however, without desperate resolution 
and hard fighting that this day's work was accomplished. 

The next day, Monday the 30th, came the battle of 
Glendale, more severe and critical than any of this cam- 
paign, except that of Malvern Hill, and in that we did not 
suffer so much as in this. The Count of Paris speaks of it 
as " remarkable for its fierceness among all those that have 
drenched the American forests in blood." Richmond was 
in extremity, as well as the Potomac army. It has been 
thought by many that General McClellan could have better 
taken Richmond than attempted that retreat. General 
Lee thought his opponent had made a fatal mistake, wlien 
he attempted to get his army across that sw!mi|). At anv 



240 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

rate this was his opportunity, aud now if ever he must fall 
upon his adversary, while entangled in those defiles and 
morasses, and encumbered by army trains and siege guns. 
Presuming upon McClellan's timidity and slowness, he 
made here, as at Beaver Dam and at Malvern Hill, the 
great mistakes of his campaign, and sacrificed his troops 
uselessly, as some of his ablest commanders admit, wherein 
the Confederacy needed to be the most frugal.* General 
Lee was certainly a very able commander, but when his 
friends claim that he showed a " remarkable discernment 
of his adversary's plans, through the study of his charac- 
ter," referring to General McClellan's disposition to move 
slowly, and fortify himself as he went, it is evident that 
neither General Lee nor his friends appreciated McClellan's 
engineering abilities, and the danger of attacking him '• in 
position," as it is called, that is, when he had carefully 
selected his point of defense. This was shown at Beaver 
Dam, and again at White Oak creek, where Stonewall 
Jackson was held all day within hearing of the fight at 
Glendale, unable to reach it, and would have changed the 
result had he been there. It was shown still more strik- 
ingly at Malvern Hill. At Glendale, General McClellan, 
after sending on force enough to occupy Malvern Hill, and 
putting himself into connection with the fleet on the James, 
and giving Franklin troops enough to hold at all hazards 
the pass of White Oak swamp, so located the rest of his 
troops in the rear of his retreating trains, that they never 
could be reached and broken up. General Lee had brought 
up all his troops; Jackson had arrived with his four superb 



* General D- H- Hill says : " The blood shed by the Southern troops at Beaver 
Dam was wasted in vain, and worse than in vain, for that fight had a most dis- 
piriting oEfect upon our troops." — [" War Book,'" Vol. II, p- 361. And General Long- 
street says : " Next to Malvern Hill, the sacrifice at Beaver Dam was unequaled in 
demoralization during the entiresummer."— ["Cten^Mrj/," JVovember, 1888, p. 138. And 
of the repeated charges which he made upon our lines at Malvern Hill, he also 
says : " We were repulsed at all points with fearful slaughter, losing 0,000 men and 
j.ccomplisliing nothing."'— 1" War Book.' Vol. II, p. 40.J. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 241 

divisions of 36,000 men and eighteen or twenty batteries, 
while Franiilin had but half that number. The two mag- 
nificent divisions also of Longstreet and A. P. Hill were upon 
the field, and they were so lavish of their valor that when 
the battle was over not a man was left in reserve. They 
encountered such Federal commanders as Sumner and 
Heintzelraan, Hooker and Meade, McCall, Slocum and 
Kearny, x^nd while the whole afternoon was spent in the 
fiercest charges, and the sturdiest repulses, losing ground 
here and retaking it there, capturing prisoners and cannon 
and recapturing them, and the field was covered with al- 
most as much of the carnage of war as ever stained God's 
green earth: the line of retreat was never broken up. but 
those army trains were protected and moved forward until 
they were safely encamped under the guns of our fleet. 

Neither side won the victory that day, though each deserved it by 
brave aud persistent fighting. General McClellan, intent upon secur- 
ing a defensive position for his army upon the James, left the field 
before the fighting began, while Longstreet, Lee, and Jeffei-son Davis 
himself, were under the fire of the Union guns during the afternoon. 
When darkness put an end to the fighting, the Federal generals, left 
to their discretion, had accomplished their purpose. The enemy had 
been held in check, the trains and artillery had gone safely forward 
by the road which the battle had protected, and on the next morning, 
Tuesday, July 1, the Army of the Potomac was awaiting its enemy in 
its natural fortress of Malvern Hill. It was at this place that General 
Lee's contempt for his enemy was to meet its last and severest 
chastisement. — [Nicolay <fc Hay's " Lincoln,'' " Century,'^ Xovember. 
18S8, JJ. 141. 

Malvern Hill had been selected by General McClellan as 
the last stronghold in his retreat. If it had been created 
for his purpose, it could not have been better.. The country 
was such a swamp and forest that between the Chicka- 
hominy and the James there were only three open and 
cleared spaces where such battles could have been fought. 
These were Savage's Station, Frazier's farm or Glendale 
Junction, aud Malvern Hill. This last was an " elevated 



242 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

plateau, cleared of timber, about a mile and a half long 
by three-quarters of a mile wide, with several converging 
roads running over it. In front were numerous defensible 
ravines, the ground sloping gradually toward the woodland, 
giving clear ranges for artillery in those directions." It 
commanded the roads coming from Richmond and also 
from White Oak swamp, and here our troops were massed, 
especially General McClcllan's prodigious force of batteries 
and heavy siege guns. The commanders on both sides 
attribute the result of this battle and the successful termi- 
nation of that retreat especially to his perfection and 
strength in this branch of the service. In this battle he 
had a reserve of more than a hundred cannon, some of 
them the heaviest siege guns. It seemed folly to drag such 
guns through such a country and burden a retreating army 
with such impediments. And yet, in spite of their weight 
and the many dangers to which they were exposed, only a 
single one was lost, vindicating the judgment of the com- 
mander-in-chief, and repaying him at last for what it cost 
him. The last thing General McClellan did on the morning 
of the battle, before going down the James to decide upon 
the final encampment of his army, was to locate these guns 
in the form of a semicircle upon the hill, and cover with 
their converging fire every point of his line, so that the 
heaviest of them would sweep over his own troops and 
command every slope that gave access to their position. 
This is what made the position so secure, and rendered the 
repeated and desperate assaults upon it such madness and 
the result such slaughter. The only way of assaulting such 
a position with any hope of success was the one adopted. 
It was to [)lant batteries in the most sheltered places to 
play upon our lines, and having organized infantry forces 
in the shelter of the forest, to dash forward upon the lines 
wherever they were broken, and by sheer numbers and 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 243 

desperate courage sweep away infantry and batteries, cost 
what It might. 

The battle lasted from 4 o'cloclv in the afternoon until 9 
o'clock in the evening ; the valor shown was heroic and the 
losses terrible. General D. H. Hill draws this picture of 
one episode : — 

I never saw anythincr more <rrandly heroic than the advance, after 
sunset, of the nine brigades under Magiuder'sordei-s. Unfortunately 
they did not move together and were beaten in detail. As each 
brifjade emerfjed from the woods, from fifty to one linndred guns 
opened upon it, tearinjr o^reat gaps in its ranks, but the heroes reeled 
on, and were shot down by the reserves at the guns, which a few 
squads readied. Most of them had an open field, half a mile wide, 
to cross, under the fire of field artillery in front and the fire of the 
heavy ordnance of the gunboats in their reai-. It was not war; it was 
murder.— ["ir«r Book," Vol. II, p. 394. 

Lee's belief that a success now would not only relieve 
Richmond, but save the Confederacy, accounts for the des- 
perate effort he made, against the advice of his generals. 
Of the fighting on both sides General McClellan says: "I 
doubt whether in the annals of war there was ever a more 
persistent and gallant attack, or a more cool and effective 
resistance." Within two hours of the close of the battle, 
orders were given to fall back to Harrison's Landing, on 
the James river, and the next day the army arrived there 
in safety with all its trains. Their march of six or seven 
miles was made through a heavy rain, and proved some- 
what demoralizing to men exhausted by seven days' fight- 
ing. The troops were safe under the guns of the fleet, the 
retreat had been skillfully conducted, and the campaign 
was over. 

Now that the war is over, and we obtain accounts of it 
from those engaged in it on both sides, it is instructive to get 
their judgment of movements and results, and especially 
their estimate of their opponents. Thus General Hill, who 
had led so gallantly the desperate charge, and lost so 



244 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

heavily says : " The battle, with all its melancholy resulta, 
proved, however, that the Confederate infantry, and Federal 
artillery, side by side on the same field, need fear no foe on 
earth. Both commanders had shown great ability; Mc- 
Clellan, if not always great in advance, was masterly in re- 
treat, and was unquestionably the greatest of Americans as 
an organizer of an army. Lee's plans were perfect, and 
had not his dispositions for a decisive battle at Frazier's 
farm miscarried, through no fault of his own, he would 
have AV^on a most complete victory. It was not the least 
part of his greatness that he did not complain of his disap- 
pointment, and that he at no time sought a scapegoat upon 
which to lay a failure. As reunited Americans, we have 
reason to be proud of both commanders.'' 

As to the character and conduct of oar own troops in 
this severe campaign. General Franklin, one of our generals, 
says of them : — 

1 canuot finish without a word as to the conduct of the men. My 
experience during the period generally known as '"the Seven Days" 
was with the Sixth and Seventh corps. During the whole time 
between June 26 and July 2 there was not a night in which the men 
did not march almo.'^t continually, nor a day on which there was not 
a fight. I never saw a skulker during the whole time, nor heard one 
insubordinate word. Some men fell by the wayside exhausted, and 
were captured, but their misfortune was due to physical inability to 
go on. They had no food but that which w^as carried in their haver- 
sacks, and the hot weather soon rendered that uneatable. Sleep was 
out of the question, and the only rest obtained was while lying down 
awaiting an attack, or sheltering themselves from shot and shell. No 
murmur was heard, everything was accepted as the work for which 
they had enlisted. They had been soldiers less than a year, yet their 
conduct could not have been more soldierly had they seen ten years 
of service. No such material for soldiers was ever in the field before, 
and their behavior in this movement foreshadowed their success as 
veterans at Appomattox. — [^'War Book," Vol. II, p. 182. 

So ended this campaign, for the army was soon with- 
drawn from the Peninsula, and General McClellan was 
relieved of his command as commander-in-cliief of all the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 245 

Union armies, and put in charge of the defenses of Wash- 
ington, when he was called upon to resist Lee's invasion of 
Maryland, and successfully fought the battle of Antietam- 
The results of the campaign were sad and disappointing in 
the highest degree. The losses on both sides were simply 
enormous. General McClellan estimates them, during those 
last seven days of fighting, as 15,84i^ killed, wounded and 
missing; and the losses of the Confederate army during the 
same period he puts at 19,749, both of which are substan- 
tially correct according to the latest revision of the reports 
on both sides. On our side it was almost the destruction 
of the largest and best equipped army of the war. When 
it set out from Fortress Monroe, after that long cry of "On 
to Richmond ! " though we had no suitable army for such 
an enterprise, we followed this one with its accomplished 
and popular commander, almost sure of success. But when 
three weary months had worn away and our troops were 
only approaching the city, and we heard from them as 
fighting daily battles, and every boat and train from the 
front came loaded with their wounded and sick, and finally 
the news came that they were in full retreat through those 
swamps of the Chickahominy, and fighting such battles as 
"Beaver Dam," "Gaines' Mill," Savage's Station," Glen- 
dale," and "Malvern Hill," and as we learned more of the 
particulars of this wrecked expedition, who that did not 
experience it can appreciate the disappointment, the per- 
sonal anguish, and public sorrow that spread over all the 
Northern States ? And if anything could have discouraged 
us, in such a war for the preservation of the Union and the 
maintenance of the Republic, it would have been this. For it 
looked as if the failure of this grand expedition might lead 
to the acknowledgment of the Confederacy by foreign 
powers, while the "peace party" at home were disposed to 
adjust matters upon any terms, even new compromises with 
slavery, which would have left us worse off than ever, and 



246 WILLIAM A. BU(Jk]iNGHAM. 

robbed the world of the only successful experiment in self- 
government and equal rights. But instead of discourajie- 
ment, and giving over the attempt to maintain the Republic, 
such reverses only showed that we were not appreciating our 
danger, and had not begun to do enough to escape it. And 
the Northern States were wise enough and patriotic enough 
to understand it, and push forward their enlistments and 
multiply their contributions to the war until the object of 
the war was secured. The repeated and vast levies lor 
troops made by the government and the enthusiasm for 
enlistment which followed, and this before either the battle 
of Gettysburg had been won or Vicksburg had fallen, 
showed what was meant by the " Uprising of a Great 
People," and as distinctlv forecast the final result as though 
some pi'ophet had furetoid it. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Further Calls for Volunteers. 

Two Requisitions for 300,000 Men Each in the Summer of 1862— Gov- 
ernor Buckingham's Pi'ochxmatiou — The Patriotic Response of the 
Men of Connecticut — Mr. Lincoln's Views as to Emancipa- 
tion — Value of the Slaves — The Emancipation Proclamation 
Foreshadowed. 

Jn one of Mr. Lincoln's dispatches to General McClellan, 
when he was in his greatest perplexity and distress, he 
said : — 

" Maintain your ground if you can, but save the army at all events, 
even if you fall back to Fortress Monroe. We still have strength 
enough in the country and will bring it out. Save the army, material 
and personnel, and I will strengthen it for the offensive again as fast 
as I can. The governoi's of eighteen States offer me a new levy of 
300,000 men, which I accept."— ["Cen^ur?/," October, 18S8, p. 145. 

Governor Buckingham was of course one of this number, 
and with his patriotic State behind him, sure to follow 
where he led the way, he might well counsel, as he always 
had done, the raising of more troops. His letter to the 
President, a few months after he issued his call for 75,000 
men, counseling him to raise 400,000 or 500,000 if he 
would cope successfully with the Confederate forces al- 
ready in the field, has previously been referred to. (It can be 
found in full on pp. 166-168.) Again and again he had 
filled his quota, and had regiments on hand which he 
begged in vain to have taken into the service. The State 
had also at his suggestion offered to put its troops into the 
field at its own expense and await the convenience of the 
government for repayment. 



248 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

In April of this year the President called for 300,000 
troops, and in August for 300,000 more. At this tune 
business was good in every department. The withdrawal 
of a large number of men from productive labor, and the 
preparation of the immense supplies required for the array 
in the field, kept every hand busy and every wheel in 
motion. The daily expenses of the governraeni , chiefly for 
war purposes, were nearly $2,000,000. But before making 
these heavy demands the President hesitated. He might 
well have thought at first that the troops called for were 
sufficient to put down the rebellion of South Carolina and 
a few other States, and have hoped, as so many predicted, 
that "the war would be over in six months." Nor could 
he tell how far the Union States would respond to his calls 
for men and money. So he ascertained from the loyal 
governors how far he could draw upon their States in any 
emergency. Thus he writes to the Secretary of War when 
McClellan's army was in its perilous condition : — 

Then let the country give us 100.000 new troops in the shortest 
possible time, which, added to McClellan directly or indirectly, will 
take Richmond without endangering any other place which we now 
hold, and will substantially end the war. 1 expect to maintain this 
contest until successful, or till I die, or am conquered, or my term 
expires, or Congress or the country forsake me. And I would pub- 
licly appeal to the country for this new force, were it not that I fear 
a general panic and stampede would follow, so hard is it to have a 
thing understood as it really is. I think the new force should be all, 
or nearly all, infantry, principally because such can be raised most 
cheaply and quickly. — [Unpublished MS. in " The Century,'''' December, 
1888, p. 289. 

In pursuance of this plan, Secretary Seward went to 
New York city to confer with Governors Morgan of New 
York and Curtin of Pennsylvania, and replies : — 

The governors respond and the Union committee approve earnestly 
and unanimously. Let the President make the order, and let both 
papers come out in to-morrow morning's papers, if possible. The 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINOHAM. 249 

number of troops to be called is left to the President to fix. No one 
proi)oses less than 200,000. Make it 300,000 if you wish. They say it 
may be 500,000 if the President desires.— [" Centunj," p. 290. 

Accordingly there appeared at once in the newspapers, a 
formal correspondence purporting to he the voluntary re- 
quest of eighteen governors of loyal States, for such a call, 
and it was fixed at 300,000. 

Then for the first time the successful prosecution of the 
war seemed to have become the great business, if not the 
onh' business, of the North. In Massachusetts, Governor 
Andrew issued an order, recommending that throughout 
the Commonwealth, and especially in the cities and larger 
towns, business should be suspended during the coming 
week, and that the time and influence of every citizen be 
given to encouraging enlistments, by the example of his 
own enrollment, if within the prescribed limits of age and 
health, and if not, by stimulating the patriotism of his 
neighbors. Governor Buckingham issued this order to the 
people of his State, before the last of the wagons of Mc- 
Clellan's retreating army had fairly reached their shelter 
at Harrison's Landing : — 

Citizens of Connbcticut: 

You are again called upon to rally to the support of the govern- 
ment. In the name of our common country, I call upon you to enroll 
your names for the immediate formation of six or more regiments of 
infantry to be used in suppressing the rebellion. Our troops may be 
held in check, and our sons may die on the battlefield, but the cause 
of civil liberty must be advanced; the supremacy of the government 
must be maintained. Prompt and decisive action will be economy in 
men and money. By our delay the safety of our armies, even of the 
nation, may be imperiled. The rebellion, contending with the des- 
peration of a hopeless and wicked cause, must be met with equal 
energy. Close j'our manufactories and workshops, turn aside from 
your farms and your business, leave for awhile your families and 
homes, meet face to face the enemies of your liberties! Haste, and 
you will rescue many noble men now struggling against superior 
numbers, and speedily secure the blessings of peace and good 
government. 



250 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Given under my liand and the seal of the State, at New Haven, this 
8d of July, in the year of our Lord 18(52. 

William A. Buckingham. 
L'.y his Excellency's command, 
J. H. TiiUJiiuTLL, Secretary of State. 

Then came the war meetings in every town, and espe- 
cially the cities. A great and spirited one was held in 
New Haven within ten days after the battle of Malvern 
Hill, where Commodore Foote presided, fresh from his suc- 
cess in helping Grant capture Fort Henry on the Tennessee 
river, and in opening the Upper Mississippi. Speeches 
were made by the Governor, Senator Dixon, Rev. Dr. 
Bacon and others, representing every class and the strongest 
influences of the State. The matter of enlistments was 
put into the hands of an able committee, who first resolved 
to " postpone absolutely for the present all topics of dis- 
pute," and proceeded to raise " the Lyon regiment," named 
after General Lyon, one of the sons of Connecticut who 
fell early in the war, and whom the State has never ceased 
to honor. This i-egiment was full and left the State within 
a month. A similar meeting was held at Hartford, where 
5,000 people were gathered, and a similar regiment was 
raised and on its way to the war before the month ended. 

And so the work went on in every county and town, 
under the President's first call for enlistments, until within 
forty-five days the State's quota of 8,066 men had been 
volunteered and organized into eight full regiments, and 
one light battery, with a surplus of almost another thou- 
sand. This was scarcely accomplished, when another call 
came from the government for 300,000 nine-months' men, 
to be filled by a draft if not furnished by enlistment. 
Things looked discouraging for the Unie)n cause. We had 
had no great military successes of late, while the complete 
breaking down of the Peninsular campaign against Rich- 
mond was the great disappointment of the war to the 
North. The Confederacy, encouraged thereby, was putting 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 26 1 

forth prodigious efforts to take advantage of the disorgan- 
ization of that army, and proposing even to invade the free 
States. This was only a few weeks before the battle of 
Antietam, which took place the 17th of September, and in 
anticipation of which the government made its second and 
almost frantic call for still more troops. It was for 300,- 
000 more, only these were to be nine-months' men, and 
they must be furnished by draft, if they did not offer them- 
selves for enlistment. Connecticut had already furnished 
21,702 troops; her new quota would be 7,145 ; the number 
of her population fit for military service had been heavily 
drawn upon; the number who had enlisted, from mere 
patriotism and a sense of duty, left fewer of this class to 
appeal to, so it was not strange that the heavy bounties and 
sordid substitutes that helped to fill up this last draft, 
proved poor stuff compared with the better material that 
composed the first regiments. 

Yet as showing what kind of men were entering the 
service at this very time when " bounty-jumpers" and "de- 
serters" were most numerous, we might refer to the Six- 
teenth regiment, under Colonel Beach, the first to be raised 
and the soonest in the field, under that July call. It was 
a Hartford county regiment, and a three-years' regiment, 
enlisted from that city, and the substantial towns of that 
vicinity; mustered into the service, and off to the front 
within two months after they were called for, and with a 
thousand men in their ranks beside the officers. They were 
hurried into the field at Antietam, almost as soon as they 
had received their arms, where they maintained their posi- 
tion, and behaved themselves like veterans in the bloody 
" Battle of the Cornfield," and where they left so many dead. 
This was the most unfortunate regiment that left the State, 
being taken prisoners within a year after (all but one com- 
pany), in North Carolina, and sent to Andersonville, where 
they patiently endured for another year more than the hard- 



252 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

ships of a score of ordinary campaigns, and were subjected 
to tortures which only fiends could inflict.* 

A touching sequel to their story was, that when captured 
they tore their blue State flag into scraps to be distributed 
among the men and coiiccalod about their persons Years 
after, when the war flags were removed with great pomp 
and ceremony from the State arsenal to tlie new capitol, 
and few of them could be unfurled they were so tattered 
and bullet-riddled, this regiment — what was left of it — 
bore a fresh, yellow satin flag floating proudly on the breeze, 
as if they were just going to the war. But upon it might 
be seen a blue shield, not bigger than your hand, made up 
of the bits of the State flag distributed when they were 
captured, and preserved like holy relics through humilia- 
tion, torture, and all but the imguish of crucifixion. And 
when these veterans came marching by, the shouts that 
greeted them, expressive of mingled pity and praise, as this 
strange symbol of heroism and suffering came to be under- 
stood, were enough to make a hero of anybody, and a 
martyr, too ! 

As showing the high and noble spirit that generally pre- 
vailed, wiien the meanest recruits were going into the army 
for the sake of the high bounties, another instance might 
be mentioned of another Hartford regiment, in which com- 
mander and men were alike distinguished for earnest patri 
otism. Colonel George P. Bissell was at the head of a 
large banking house in Hartford, and had taken an active 



* As an exhibition of their spirit, a petition to President Lincoln for exchnnee 
was at this time circulated, but the men of the Sixteenth generally refused to sijjn 
it on the ground that ii nii^ht embarrass the government in its dealing's v it h the 
rebellion, and that the ioyal authorities were already doubtless doiny what they 
could. There were now 30,000 ot them in the stockade. A rebel contractor came 
in to induce them to desert, and promised them good rations and pay if they would 
go out and make shoes for the Confederacy, but the starving patriots refused such 
service, aud the recruiting cobbler was hooted and jeered out of the stockade. It 
was now August 1 and the distress had become very great. In the stockade and 
hospital 3,000 died during that month, aud 13,000 during the summer. Of the 400 
enlisted men who entered those portals of death, less than 200 ever lived to tell the 
story of their starvation and nameless tortures.— f" Connecticut in th.t WarV 



WILLIAM A, BUCKINGHAM. 253 

part in the first election of Mr. Lincoln, and in the encour- 
agement of enlistments into the three-months' regiments 
first sent out. But it was not until the sei^ond year of the 
war that he felt called upon to enlist himself. He had 
been West and into Kentucky on business, and realizing 
the occasion, concluded that he must not only encourage 
others to go to the war, but go himself. He proposed it to 
his father-in-law, who was as patriotic as himself, and took 
a leading part in all the efforts of the city to raise funds 
and troops. He was told that he could not advise it. He 
could not be spared. He might send twenty substitutes, 
but he must not think of it. The answer was that he had 
the most profound respect for his judgment, and would in 
almost anything defer to his wishes, but this was a matter 
of conscience with him. He was satisfied that the crisis 
required it of him and other business men, and he must go 
and set them an example. He stepped across the street 
from his banking house to the State House, where he told 
Governor Buckingham of his purpose, and added that if he 
could give him a lieutenancy or some such humble official posi- 
tion it would gratify him. The Governor jumped up and, seiz- 
ing both his hands, said : " I'll make you a colonel, and you 
may take your choice of the four regiments now enlisting 
and gathering at the camp, and I will put you in charge of 
the camp as post commander, for you are the man of all 
others needed there." He went directly to the camp, and 
for a month never passed a night at his own house, until he 
had put things in order there. His regiment was soon in 
the field, and served honorably and efficiently in the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf, under General Banks, and nobly bore its 
part of hardship and loss in the capture of Port Hudson 
and the severe fi2;ht at Irish Bend.* This regiment was 



* Here is where the Twenty-fifth went into battle for the first time, and not only 
encountered a severe musketry fire, but became also the mark of a battery on one 
wide and the runs uf a rebel gunboat on the other. " Here they were kept under 
tire eleven hours and suffered fearfully. But the men stood up to iheir work nobly, 



264 



WILLIAM A. BUCKFNGHAM. 



characterized by its fine discipline and its reverence for 
sacred tilings, which it carried with it from home and pre- 
served amid the corruptions of war and in that rude region 
of the Southwest. It is told that a visitor in the camp, 
who was surprised at the character of the men in this 
respect, said : " Colonel, I don't hear any swearing in your 
camp." " Don't have any," was the reply. " Don't have 
any? You needn't tell me that, when there are no officers 
around." " J tell you we don't have any. I'll give you 
five dollars for any oath you pick up in my camp." And 
it is said that he never made any money by it. 

So these heavy calls upon the State for troops were met, 
and no draft was made, though it would have come if en- 
listments had not j)roved sufficient. Every city and town 
was expected to look after its own quota, and by personal 
and united effort, the offer of bounties, and the application 
of the overplus number from one town to the deficit of 
another, the requisite number of soldiers was raised. 

The agp;iegate of those wlio dishonestly sought exemption, was of 
course very small, when compared with the whole number liable to 
military duty. The people generally were ready to stand the draft, 
and some calmly awaited the result as the decision of Providence 
upon their duty to go or stay. Still there was a decided repugnance 
to a draft, however equitable, and all, with Connecticut ideas of free- 
dom, wished to see the ranks filled by volunteers. — [^'Connecticut in 
the War,'' p. 243. 

There was some hot haste required at last to do it. 
Many towns had not filled their quotas until the last day. 
At New Haven several thousand people were gathered at 
the north portico of the State House early that day, where 
a citizens' meeting was organized, addresses made, bids 
offered for substitutes, and additional bounties to enlist-: 
mcnts, until 4 o'clock, when the draft was to begin to 



inuiled by tho example of their t;allant colonel, Bissell, who, regardless of his own 
aafoty, passed from end to end of the liae, encouraging the.Ti to deeds of bravery." 
— [■■ Connecticut in the \Va7\" ji. 405. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 255 

suppl}' the deficiency. The number was nearly full, and 
the draft was delayed for half an hour, when it was an- 
nounced that the number was completed. More than a 
hundred had enlisted since 9 o'clock in the morning; some 
of the towns even then had not furnished their quota, but 
others had an excess of men, and these were enough to sup- 
ply the deficiencies. So that these two heavy calls for 
troops were both met, and within three months the men 
were in the field. They were there to resist the invasion 
of Maryland, which took place in September ; they did good 
service, and some of them suffered terribly. The battle of 
Antietam has been called " the bloodiest day of the war." 
General McClellan makes his entire loss in this battle over 
12,000, and General Lee's was not less. As it was not 
decisive, and no particular advantage was taken of it, eo 
but that the free States were invaded again the next year, 
when the more decisive battle of Gettysburg was fought, it 
was felt to be a great expenditure of means for no more 
important results. It was this which removed General 
McClellan from the command of the army, and from the 
army itself. 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Emancipation Proclamation, 1862. 

The President's Decision in Regard to Emancipation — His Plan of 
Buying Off the Northern Slave States and Paying them for Their 
few Slaves — The Failure — His Correspondence with Mr. Banci-oft 
— His Decision to Issue such Proclamation as soon as the Govern- 
ment Should Have Gained Some Important Victory — It was Done 
after the Battle of Antietam. 

From the beginning of the war, the government and the 
people of the North had been perplexed to know how to 
treat slavery. The reason and manner of its toleration in 
hope of a gradual and peaceful extinction of slavery have 
been described, as well as the violation of agreements by 
the South and the successive acts of aggression which cul- 
minated in secession and war, all the direct result of the 
Southern determination to perpetuate and extend slavery. 
In these circumstances, it might have been expected when 
the war came that the government would at once attack 
slavery, the most vulnerable point of the Confederacy. As 
it was, however, the President had a plan of his own to 
induce the border slave States, where there were the fewest 
sla^'CS, to emancipate them and let the government pay for 
them, and so prevent these States from joining the Confed- 
eracy. Delaware had only 1,800 slaves, and Congress had 
already passed a joint resolution, '-That the United States 
ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt gradual 
abolition of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid." 
Maryland had more slaves, but her interests were all in the 
direction of free labor, and to get rid of her slave system 
as soon as possible, and be on an equal business footing 



WILLIAM A. BDCKINGHAiM. 257 

with the other Northern States. So had Kentucky and 
Missouri, with their greater territory and rich resources, a 
strong inducement to free themselves from their hampering 
slave system. For a time the President seemed confident 
that by fair treatment and compensation for their slaves, 
he could induce them to abolish slavery and keep out of 
the Confederacy. He pressed it personally upon their 
representatives in Congress. He recommended it in his 
messages, and presented in all its detail the feasibility and 
wisdom of such a plan, while carefully avoiding everything 
that could wound their keen sensibilities upon this subject. 
He took unwearied pains to relieve every difficulty and sug- 
gest every feasible method, and put the matter into their own 
hands, so as to have them feel that it was not forced upon 
them by the government. He appealed to these States in 
his most candid and kindest manner, and urged them by 
every consideration of wisdom and duty not to be blind 
to the signs of the times, and neglect a great providential 
opportunity, and have cause forever to lament that they 
threw avray such a priceless boon once offered to the slave, 
and to the nation. 

Nor was this all. Several months after the President 
and Congress had sanctioned this policy of compensated 
emancipation in the border slave States, he gathered their 
delegations about him at the White House, and read to 
them a second carefully prepared paper upon the subject. 
He urges his plan as the surest and quickest to end the 
war; as one which the government can carry out and 
make compensation for their slaves, which it may never be 
able to do after the country is impoverished by a destruc- 
tive war; he also reminds them, that if the war continues 
long, as it must, if the object is not soon attained, the in- 
stitution of their States will be extinguished by the mere 
friction and abrasion ; the mere incidents and necessities 
of war ; he tells them they know what the power of the 



■268 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

larger slave States over them is, and adjures them to break 
that rod of their oppression, and be forever free; and he 
ends with this personal and constraining appeal: "Most 
of you have treated me with kindness and consideration, 
and I trust you will not now think I improperly touch what 
is exclusively your own, when for the sake of the whole 
country, I ask : Can you, for your States, do better than 
to take the course I urge?" 

But it never had any effect upon any one of those States, 
and not much with the Northern States — even in the great 
business centers, where commercial ideas of prolit and loss 
are supposed to be the most correctly calculated, this eco- 
nomic feature of the plan never seemed to have attracted 
any favorable attention. One of the New York papers, The 
Times, having expressed the opinion that this plan of the 
President's, " though well intentioned, must fail on the 
score of expense,"" the President wrote to the editor as 

follows: — 

t 
I am grateful to the New York journals, and not less so to The 

Times than to others, for their kind notices of the late special mes- 
sage to Congress. Your paper, however, intimates that the proposi- 
tion, though well intentioned, must fail on the score of expense. I 
do hoj^e you will reconsider this. Have you noticed the facts that 
less than one-half day's cost of this war would pay for all the 
slaves in Delaware at $400 per head; that eighty-seven days' cost of 
this war would pay for all in Delaware, Maryland, District of Colum- 
bia, Kentucky and Missouri at the same price? Were those States to 
take the steps, do you doubt that it would shorten the war more than 
eighty-seven days, and thus be an actual saving of expense? Please 
look at these things and consider whether there should not be another 
article in The Times. — [ Unpublished MS. 

Again, the President wrote privately to one of the sena- 
tors (McDougall) who opposed the scheme, as follows : — 

As to the expensiveness of the plan of gradual emancipation with 
compensation, proposed in the late message, please allow me one or 
two brief suggestions. Less than one-half day's cost of the war 
would pay for all the slaves in Delaware at $400 per head. Thus: — 



WILLIAM A. BOCKINGHAM. 259 

All the slaves in Delaware by census of 1860 are 1,798 

$400 



Cost of slaves, $719,200 

One day's cost of the war, 2,000,000 

Again, less than eighty-seven days' cost of this war would, at the 

same price, pay for all in Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, 

Kentucky and Missouri. Thus: — 

Slaves in Delaware, 1,798 

Slaves in Maryland 87,188 

Slaves in District of Columbia, .... 3,181 

Slaves in Kentucky, 225,490 

Slaves in Missouri, 114,909 



432,. 566 
S-100 



Cost of slaves, $173,026,400 

Eighty-seven days' cost of war, . . 174,000,000 

— [Nicolay & Hay^s ^'Lincoln," " The Century,''' December, 18SS, p. 278. 

As the war was running on past the middle of its 
second year, and so many complications were arising out 
of its connection with slavery, and Mr. Lincoln had 
proclaimed no emancipation of the slaves, or purpose to 
use them as soldiers, it was supi)Osed by many that he 
was inclined to deal leniently with the whole system, and 
might end the war without destroying or impairing the 
slaveholder's title to such property. The Northern people 
were slowly but surely losing their respect for that sort of 
title. But Mr. Lincoln had never lost sight of this result, 
which he foresaw must come, and devoutly prayed might 
come. Emancipation by purchase might well come first, if 
it could be brought about, and if successful in the border 
States, it would follow elsewhere. Still no such rash act 
as stirring up a slave insurrection, or foolish one as to pro- 
claim an emancipation without power to execute it, was to 
be thought of. He wisely refrained from all threats of 
emancipation, as fatal to his first project, until that had 
been thoroughly attempted. He did, however, continually 
intimate that emancipation must be the result of the war, 



260 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

if the war was allowed to go on ; he took positions in his 
messages, one after another, which would lead to emanci- 
pation, onl}' he would be in no haste to resort to " radical 
and extreme measures, by which the loyal might suffer as 
well as the disloyal." The war was already setting free 
many slaves, and he recommends that " Congress provide 
for accepting such persons, and they be at once deemed 
free." And while he would not " hastily adopt extreme 
and radical measures, the Union must be preserved, and all 
indispensable means must be employed for that purpose." 
He gave fair warning as to what he meant, and how much 
was implied, if his first plan did not succeed, and the war 
went on. In the meantime, the people of the North were 
wondering if the title to slave property was so ])i-e-emi- 
nently sacred, that it could not be meddled with even in 
war, and if only slaveholders must be left in undisturbed 
possession of such a contraband of war. The generals in 
the field, and their troops too, felt themselves hampered, 
and felt demeaned, by being obliged to respect such claims. 
There was beginning to be talk about enlisting colored 
troops, and letting them help fight out their own emanci- 
pation, instead of leaving it all to white men. And as the 
war went on, and so many more troops were called for, it 
was favored and demanded. The governors of the free 
States, supported by their constituency, were urging the 
President to some such course of measures, as the require- 
ment of duty, and the voice of Providence. Early in the 
war, George Bancroft, "the veteran Democratic politician 
and national historian, who as a member of President 
Polk's cabinet had rendered signal and lasting service in 
national administration," had said while presiding at a 
meeting in New York to raise funds for the suffering loyal- 
ists of North Carolina : " If slavery and the Union are in- 
compatible, listen to the words which come to you from the 
tonab of Andrew Jackson — vThe Union must be preserved 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 261 

at all hazards/ ... If any one claims the compro- 
mises of the Constitution, let him begin by placing the Con- 
stitution in power by respecting it and upholding it." In 
a letter transmitting these remarks and the resolutions of 
the meeting to Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Bancroft added: "Your 
administration has fallen upon times which will be re- 
membered as long as human events find a record. I sin- 
cerely wish to you the glory of perfect success. Civil war 
is the instrument of Divine Providence to root out social 
slavery; posterity will not be satisfied with the result, un- 
less the consequences of war shall effect an increase of free 
States. This is the universal expectation and hope of men 
of all parties." 

To this Mr. Lincoln replied : " I esteem it a high honor 
to have received a note from Mr. Bancroft, indorsing 
the report of proceedings of a New York meeting taking 
measures for the relief of Union people of North Carolina. 
I thank you and all others participating for this benevolent 
and patriotic movement. The main thought in the closing 
paragraph of your letter is one which does not escape my 
attention, and with which I must deal in all due caution, 
and with the best judgment 1 can bring to it." 

The utterance of Mr. Bancroft, caught up in the great 
metropolis of the nation, and echoing back from all the 
North, satisfied Mr. Lincoln that public sentiment would 
sustain him in it, and was demanding it of him. It only 
remained for him to decide when emancipation should be 
proclaimed, and under what circumstances it had best 
be done. 

This brings to mind an incident of that period, and 
shows the position of Governor Buckingham on the sub- 
ject. A delegation from Connecticut visited Washington 
to petition the President to issue such a proclamation, and 
was presented by the Governor. In reply to the Governor's 
address, Mr. Lincoln, anxious enough himself about this 



262 WILLIAM A. IiLICKlN(iHAM. 

subject, atid pressed on every side by those who were urging- 
him on to emancipation, or who would dissuade him from 
it, said abruptly, and as if irritated by the subject: " Gov- 
enor, 1 suppose what your people want is more nigger." 
The Governor, surprised by an impatience unusual with 
him, and quite as much by such language, probably showed 
that he was disturbed by it, when Mr. Lincoln changed in 
an instant his mode of address to one of intensest earnest- 
ness, saying in substance, that if anybody supposed he was 
not interested in this subject, deeply interested, intensely 
anxious about it, it was a great mistake. He had been 
doing his utmost to remove this chief cause of the war, 
and rid our Republic of this shame and curse. And when- 
ever the time should come that he could proclaim emanci- 
pation, and the people would sustain him in it, it would be 
the satisfaction of his life. Indeed, he virtually acknowl- 
edged, as he was afterwards free to confess, that he had al- 
ready registered a vow in heaven to free every slave under 
the necessities of war, as soon as God should give our arms 
success enough to make such a proclamation accomplish it. 
Governor Buckingham's opinions and convictions upon 
this subject may be learned from one of his executive let- 
ters addressed to the President when he announced by 
proclamation that he would emancipate the slaves in all 
the rebel States which continued in rebellion after the first 
day of January, 1863. These preliminary announcements 
were issued in September, 1862, soon after the battle of 
Antietam, in which Providence had given us the victory for 
which Mr. Lincoln had been waiting. This letter may be 
regarded as expressive of the views and convictions of the 
people of Connecticut, as of their Governor : — 

State of Connecticut, Executive Depahtmknt, I 
Haktfokd, September 26, lSiV2. \ 

UicAK Sik: — While my views of your proclamations issued on the 
22d and 24th instants may be of little or no importance, yet you will 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 263 

permit me to congratulate you and the country that you have so 
clearly presented the policy which you will hereafter pursue in sup- 
pressing the rebellion, and to assure you that it meets my cordial 
approval and shall have my unconditional support. 

Not that I think your declaration of freedom will of itself bring 
liberty to the slave, or restore peace to the nation, but I rejoice that 
your administration will not be prevented by the clamors of men in 
sympathy with rebels from using such measures as you indicate to 
overpower the rebellion, even if it interferes with and overthrows 
their much-loved system of slavery. 

Have we not too long deluded ourselves with the idea that mild 
and conciliatory measures would intiuence them to return to their 
allegiance? They have appealed to the arbitrament of the sword; 
why should we hesitate to use the sword, and press the cause to a 
decision ? Have we not undervalued their resources, disbelieved in 
their deep hatred of our government and its free institutions, and, 
influenced by erroneous ideas of the principles of humanity and 
mercy, criminally sent our brave sons down to the grave by thou- 
sands, without giving them the coveted honor of falling on the battle- 
field, and without having changed in the least the purpose of our 
enemies ? 

This little State has already sent into the army and has now at the 
rendezvous more than one-half of her able-bodied men between the 
ages of eighteen and forty-five years, and has more to offer, if wanted, 
to contend in battle against the enemies of our government. 

I trust we shall press with increased energy and power every war 
measure, as the most economical, humane and Christian policy which 
can be adopted to save our national Union, as well as to secure per- 
manent peace to those who shall succeed us. 

With sympathy with you in your responsible position and renewed 
assuiaiu^e of my cordial support, believe me with high regard, 
Your obedient servant, 

William A. Buckingham. 

To Vkesident Lincoln, Washington, D. C. 

The loyal governors were becoming impatient of the Presi- 
dent's delay, to deal a blow at the Confederacy through the 
vulnerability of their slave system. They were satisfied 
that, under the laws of war, they might confiscate not only 
the cotton of the South by which the war was carried on, 
but the slaves who raised it. Mr. Lincoln was not sure 
that the time had come when he could depend on the sup- 
port of the people. To issue such a proclamation, with no 



264 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

more power to enforce it, mi_<»;ht seein, as lie expressed it, 
too much like "the Pope's bull against a comet.'' He would 
wait until the Union government had gained some impor- 
tant victory. Then it was, just after the battle of Antietam, 
that an informal meeting of the loyal governors was sug- 
gested and arranged for at Altoona, Pa., by Governor 
Andrew, of Massachusetts. This was when they held the 
almost surreptitious meeting to which allusion has already 
been made. They met for the purpose of urging this 
measure on the President. Learning of the meeting, and 
suspecting the object of it, he issued the proclamation at 
once, and it met them there, so that he forestalled their 
consultations. Not that he was ordinarily impatient at the 
suggestions, and freest advice of his friends, which he 
courted and generally considered with them at length. 
But in this case, his long-cherished plan, reasonable as it 
was, found no favor either North or South, and he was an- 
noyed by the imj)ortunity of his friends, as when that Con- 
necticut delegation addressed him. 

Who shall say that the sober and Christian view which 
these people took of this subject, and to which the whole 
nation, the South as well as the North, came at last, was 
not the only just and satisfactory one ? The South insisted 
from the first that their institution was justifiable, and that 
there was no moral element concerned in their conflict. 
The North tried to think that they were not responsible for 
its existence, certainly not for its perpetuation, but that 
they had washed their hands of it, as Pilate did, when they 
threw the responsibility of it upon the South in the com- 
promises of the Constitution, and the South said : "• Let 
this blood be upon us and upon our children." Both took 
into account only the armies they could bring into the field, 
and the credit they could maintain on the exchange. But 
the result did not follow these laws of force and of finance. 
What became of the chivalrous spirit of the South, and 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 265 

what of the financial resources of the North ? Why were 
those sad months and years of war draggin<^ on, with no 
more decisive and better results ":" Why those repeated calls 
for 300,000 men on one side, and such relentless conscrip- 
tions on the other? What but that '-the stars in their 
courses were fighting against Sisera,'' which the people of 
that rude age were wise enough to discover, even while we 
in the bright light of Christianity were unable to discern this 
law of natural religion. As well ignore the law of gravi- 
tation, as be blind to the connection between sin and 
suffering, crime and punishment, the oppression oi weak 
nations, and the overthrow of the haughtiest oppressions. 
And why wonder at our reverses, and that we made no 
more progress toward the right issue, until we dealt right- 
eously with the real cause of the war? '-Let my people 
go!" was the voice which came down from heaven, which 
we could not hear, though spoken in the thunders of Sinai, 
when the poor slave heard and understood it, and it fell as 
softly and sweetly upon his ears, as the carol of the angels 
came to those listening shepherds of Judea. 

Perhaps no man at the outset would have been less sus- 
pected of being under the influence of sucii a faitli tlian 
General Butler, of whom his biographer says : — 

Those who lived in intimate relations with him, wliile in command 
of Xew Orleans, remarked his <:fiowing ahhorrence of slavery. I)ur- 
in<T the first weeks of the occupancy of tho city, he was occasionally 
capable, in the hurry of endorsin<jj a package of lettei'.s, of spelling 
" negro " with twog's. Not so in the later months, when he organized 
three regiments and two batteries of free negroes for the defense of 
the city, and they made good soldier.s. Afterwards he recognized 
emancipation as a necessity and sure to come, and said, "God Al- 
mighty is doing it. No man can stay it. It is no other than the 
Omnipotent God who has taken this mode of destroying slavery. We 
are but instruments in his hand. We could not prevent it if we 
would. And let us strive as we might, the judicial blindness of the 
rebels would do the work of (Jod without our aid, and in spite of all 
our endeavors against it." — [ Purton's " Life of Butler,'' p. ").")(). 



266 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Mr. Lincoln, like others, shared in this enlightenment^ 
only he always regarded himself as more of an instrument, 
than most would have done, in the hand of God, to relieve 
the land in some way of slavery. Into this conviction he 
had been growing from the first, until in his second inau- 
gural (March 4, 1865) he could speak with such prophetic 
insight and confidence, as follows : — 

Tlie Alinififhty lias his own purposes. " Woe unf.o the world be- 
cause of offenses. For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe 
to that man by whom the offense cometh." If Ave shall suppose that 
American slavery is one of those otTenses, which in the providence of 
God must needs come, but which having continued through his 
appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives to both 
North and (South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom 
the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from the 
Divine attribute which the believers in a living God always ascribe to 
him ? If God wills that it shall continue until all the wealth piled 
up by the bondsman's 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, 
and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by 
another drawn with the swoi'd; as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it 
must be said: "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous 
altogether. " 

And at this period of the war, in an interview with a 
delegation from Chicago, who came to urge emancipation, 
in explaining his {)()sition and the difficulties attending it, 
he said : '• Do not misunderstand me because 1 have men- 
tioned these objections. They indicate the difficulties that 
have thus far prevented my action in some such way as you 
desire. I have not decided against a proclamation of 
liberty to the slaves, but hold the matter under advisement. 
And I can assure you that the subject is u[)on ray mind, by 
day and by night, more than any other. Whatever shall 
apf)ear to be God's will, that will 1 do." Hut when he had 
[jroposed to the border States the plan of compensated 
emancipation, — tlie most convincing and satisfactory, as it 
sccuis to us, that was ever rejected by any who were not 
smitten by judicial blindness, and which ought to have 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 267 

been just as satisfactory to the free States from an eco- 
nomical point of view, if from no other, had not similar 
blindness fallen upon them ; and when he saw McClellan's 
well-appointed army, the best put into the field during the 
war, wasted and utterly defeated ; and found the two levies 
of 300,000 each, furnished by the eighteen loyal governors, 
soon after hardly able to hold back an invading army at 
Antietam, — he became satisfied that we were contending 
with Providence in an unequal strife, not likely to be ended 
until on both sides we were ready to give up that " wedge 
of gold " which made all Israel sin. " Then it was," says 
Mr. Lincoln, " 1 made a solemn vow before God, that if 
General Lee was driven back from Maryland, 1 would 
crown the result by a declaration of freedom to the slaves." 

The battle was fought on the 17th of September, and on 
the night of the 19th, that army retreated across the Poto- 
mac into Virginia. On the 22d, the President issued his 
proclamation of warning, that upon the first day of January 
next, every slave should be set free, in any State or portion 
of a State then found in rebellion. And when that day 
arrived, that decree went forth, and "the year of jubilee" 
had come. Not that the morning broke cloudless and 
bright, for " the wealth of 250 years of unrequited toil had 
not been sunk, nor the blood drawn by the lash paid by that 
drawn with the sword." But the blood was being paid, and 
the wealth sunk, until we were glad enough, if the nation 
might be spared, to bow in penitence together before the 
Judgment seat, and put away forever the accursed thing 
which had so long made us sin. 

During the next year, the Union cause mot with many 
hindrances and some severe reverses. The autumn had 
scarcely passed away before we had lost 13,000 of our 
Northern troops in an unsuccessful assault on Fredericks- 
burg, and 17,000 more at Chancellorville. And though Mc- 
Clellan's army had been recruited and reorganized, it was 



268 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

scarcely able to protect Washing-ton, and did not prevent 
another invasion of the Northern States the next summer. 
Immense forces were gathered and put into the field on 
both sides, and there was threat activity and vijror displayed, 
particularly in the Southwest, and with varying success, 
until the midsummer of 1863, when the "peace party" at 
the North began to say, that the war should never have 
been undertaken, and that the South could never be con- 
quered, and was discouraging enlistments and fairly com- 
promising itself with treason, when the great improvement 
to the Union cause began, (roneral Grant was coming 
.into notice, and was soon to take command of all our 
armies and bring the struggle to its proper issue. With 
the indomitable West behind him, and such generals as 
Sherman, Thomas, Rosecrans and Logan around him, and 
with Commodore Foote's fleet in advance opening the Ten- 
nessee and the Upper Mississippi, he had possessed himself 
of one important position after another, and driven the 
Confederates before him until he had invested V^icksburg, 
and was slowly but steadily reducing it by starvation. All 
efforts to relieve it had been useless, and both South and 
North were watching the struggle there, as likely to decide 
the possession of the great Southwest. It was in this state 
of things, when the bells and cannon of the North were 
ushering in the Fourth of July, 1863, that the telegraph 
announced the fall of Vicksburg, and redoubled every 
patriot's hope. Then, too, it was announced that the battle 
of Gettysburg was won, a battle that was to this land what 
Waterloo was to Europe, which had engaged two armies of 
60,000 men, one-third of each of whom were to be reported 
killed, wounded, or missing; a battle over which the whole 
nation had hung for three days, hoping and fearing, until 
news came that victory had been granted to freedom, 
union, and the perpetuity of our Republic. This was the 
meaning of it, which both North and South more than sus- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 269 

pected then, though we could not fully understand it as we 
do nov/, when all of us may rejoice together over it as what 
was meant for our salvation even more than as the punish- 
ment of our sins. It meant that slavery was forever dis- 
posed of upon this continent. It meant that the African 
slave trade, which was introduced into Virginia the very 
year the Pilgrim Fathers landed upon our New England 
shores, and was one of the complaints of the Colonies 
against the Mother Country, when our Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was declared, and was only admitted into the 
Constitution under restrictions which it was hoped would 
eventually remove it, and without which our Constitution 
could not have been adopted ; after a e ^ntinuance here of 
two centuries and a half, and with a growth in the slave 
States equal to that of the white population, and an 
encroachment all the while upon free territory and the 
threatening of new conquests for the building up of a vast 
slave republic, whatever that might have proved to be ; the 
overthrow of this whole system came, and came through 
the struggles and necessities of war. And when all human 
strength was weak, and our wisdom folly, we were led to 
acknowledge that there is " a power, not ourselves, that 
makes for righteousness," and a God above who established 
and enforces such a law, and we bow before Him, with our 
wise and devout President, saying. '' The judgments of the 
Lord are true and righteous altogether." 



CHAPTER XVI. 
A Turning Point in thr War. 

Effect of the Battles of Vicksburg and Gettyshurg — New Develop- 
ment of the Peace Party at This Very Time — The Draft Riots — 
Governor Buckingham's Vindication for Lending Arms to Keep 
the Peace — The Several Calls for Troops — Connecticut's Record — 
No Draft in the State. 

The effect of the fall of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, and of 
the Confederate defeat at Gettj'sbui-g, July 1-3, 1863, soon 
began to show itself upon both the Union and the Con- 
federate cause. There had been a great amount of difficult 
and useiul work accomplished by the Union government 
during the last year, but since the defeat of our Peninsular 
army up to these successes, no great achievements had 
encouraged the North. We had built up a good navy, 
retaken almost all the forts seized by the South at the 
beginning of the war, and nearly broken up blockade 
running. The export of cotton could no longer do much 
to keep up the credit of the Confederacy, while we were 
constantly seizing and confiscating the swiftest English 
steamers, loaded with arms, supplies of all kinds, and 
British gold. Missouri had been held in the Union, and 
our frontier army had pushed on beyond and was operating 
in Arkansas. Tlie frontier line of the Confederacy, which 
at first included within it Kentucky and Tennessee, stretch- 
ing west to the Mississippi, had been steadily pushed back 
to Cumberland Gap, and then to Nashville and to Chatta- 
nooga, until at this time it had reached Vicksburg. Admiral 
Foote had opened the upper Mississippi, and Farragut the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 271 

mouth, while Bntler was holding New Orleans in his iron 
grasp until Port Hudson fell, as it did just after Vicksburg, 
and that grand river which penetrated so many States — 
each an empire in itself — was once more opened to com- 
merce. (It is deemed worthy of historic record, that 
"July 16th, 1863, the steamer Imperial arrived at New 
Orleans from St. Louis, the first boat through in two 
years.") Then the conscription laws of the Confederacy 
had been made so rigid — extending the age of military 
vservice — and so ruthlessly enforced, that some portions of 
the South, like East Tennessee, were in absolute rebellion, 
and some of the State governments, like North Carolina, 
were protesting against having their troops sent out of the 
State. There was no possibility of recruiting her armies 
again up to the size of Lee's when he invaded Pennsylvania, 
or of those which stood in the way of Grant when he was 
investing Vicksburg. Unable to get her cotton out of the 
country, but obliged to burn it to keep it out of the hands 
of the Union forces, and with few other means of purchas- 
ing supplies abroad, and little assurance that they could be 
delivered, as blockade running was becoming too danger- 
ous — with gold within the Confederacy worth eleven hun- 
dred per cent, premium — the end might have been foreseen 
as not far distant. This was so well understood in the 
money market, that gold in New York, which in the spring 
of 1863 stood at $L45, was within a week after the battle 
of Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg down to 8125. 
The Richmond Examiner, early in that year, and before 
the Confederacy had met with the reverses that overtook 
them that summer, had taken this despondent view of their 
prospect : — 

It is not altogether an empty boast ou the part of the Yankees, that 
they hold all they have ever held; and that another year or two of 
such progress as they have already made, will find them masters of 
the Southern Confederacy. The pledge, once deemed foolish by the 
South, that they would "hold, occupy and possess all the forts be- 



272 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

longing to the United States jrovernmcnt," has been redeemed almost 
to the letter, by Lincoln. Forts cjumter and ]Mor<];an we still retain, 
but with these exceptions, all the strongholds on the seaboa*d. <'rom 
Fortress Monroe to the Rio Grande, are in the hands of the enemy; 
and the onward march of Rosecrans toward Alabama, the presence of 
Grant in North Mississippi, and of Curtis in Middle Arkansas, to say 
nothing of the presence of Banks at New Orleans and Baton Rouge, 
set at rest the silly dream that a thin strip of seacoast only is in pos- 
session of our foes. — [January 20, 1863. 

Of this period of the war, and the effect of the Confed- 
erate defeat at Vicksburg, General E. W. Law of the Con- 
federate army, who held an important command in that 
battle, writes in his paper in the " War Book : " — 

Gettysburg was the turning point in the great struggle, together 
with the fall of Vicksburg, whicli occurred simultaneously with the 
retreat of Lee's army toward the Potomac, it inspired the armies and 
people of the North with fresh courage, and stimulated anew the 
hopes of ultimate success, which were visibly flagging under an al- 
most uninterrupted series of reverses to the Federal arms in Virginia, 
extending over a period of nearly two years. On the other hand, it 
was at Gettysburg that the right arm of the South was . broken. — 
[" War Book;' Vol. IIL p. 319. 

And yet this very time of greatest hope and promise to 
the Union cause became the most critical one to that cause 
during the whole war. It had always been a matter of 
regret to some of the leaders of the Democratic party, as 
to Senator Douglas and to General Butler, that Secession 
should have been allowed to gain such an ascendency under 
President Pierce's administration, and be left all ready to 
break out into war when President Buchanan retired from 
office. And so, while they retained their political prin- 
ciples, they were patriotic enough to fight for the Union. 
But there was another and larger class, who had more par- 
tisanship than patriotism, and whose party the South had 
sustained, and who had gone into the war because Mr. Lin- 
coln's administration had supplanted theirs ; these were 
ready to take advantage of mismanagement and defeats in 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 273 

our military operations, and now opposed the war altogether 
and discouraged enlistments to the verge of treasonable 
conduct. Of this class, though an extreme specimen, was 
Mr. Vallandingham, a member of Congress, whose course 
and utterances were such in Ohio that General Burnside, 
in whose military district he was, arrested him for " aiford- 
ing aid and comfort to the enemy." He was tried by court 
martial, convicted and sentenced to confinement during the 
war, a sentence which the President changed to a banish- 
ment across the lines, thus properly sending him to " his 
own place." 

Not liking his reception by the leaders of the Confederacy, to whom 
he had given the assurance that they would succeed if their armies 
could only hold out till another election, when the Democrats would 
sweep the Republicans out of power, and make peace, Mr. Vallan- 
dingham made his way to Bermuda, and thence to Canada, where he 
remained for some time. While in exile, he was nominated for gov- 
ernor by the Democratic party in Ohio, but was defeated, his rival, 
John Brough, having a majority of more than 100,000. The govern- 
ment made no objection to his return to Ohio, and he was a member 
of the Democratic national convention at Chicago in 1864, and brought 
about the nomination of George B. McClellan for the presidency in 
opposition to Mr. Lincoln's re-election. — ["'Appleton's Biographical 
Dictionary.^' 

These principles and positions of Mr. Vallandingham, 
which showed themselves earlier in the obstructions made 
to war measures by the " peace party " in the Legislatures 
of some of the Northern States, had gained strength the 
last year. The "peace movement" in Connecticut in 1862, 
when popular meetings were called to put a stop to the 
war, and were accompanied with such violent speeches and 
dangerous proceedings as threatened riot and bloodshed, 
originated with ex-Governor Seymour of that State, who 
introduced into the Legislature a resolution adopting the 
"Crittenden Compromise," which assumed that disunion 
was a fixed fact. 



2V4 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

He said: " There seems to be a radical mistake on the part of many 
people. They appear to think that the South can be conquered. Sir, 
this is impossible. You may devastate their fields, and shed the 
blood of their people, but you cannot conquer them." — [" Connecticut 
in the War,'' p. 103. 

The resolution was rejected in the House by 173 to 18. 
It was this Legislature which was congratula,ted at its close 
by one of its members, as not having in either branch a 
single disloyal member. This was said in regard to a reso- 
lution just introduced with reference to the " white flag," 
used by peace men in disparagement of the national flag, 
and unanimously adopted by both branches of the Legisla- 
ture : " Resolved, that the State of Connecticut will stand 
by the old flag, and furnish all the men and money that are 
required of her to put down this infamous rebellion." It 
should be said of this patriotic member, Hon. C. S. Bush- 
nell of New Haven, that under the severest conditions from 
the government, he furnished the fund with which Ericsson 
built the " Monitor," which had just then made our navy 
resistless, and roused the envy if not the fear of the great 
nations of the Avorld. 

It was a year after — the middle of 1863 — a year after the 
sad ending of the Peninsular campaign, after heavy losses 
at Chancellorville and Murfreesboro, and just before Vicks- 
burg had fallen and the field of Gettysburg had been won, 
that the "peace party" started up with new encourage- 
ment and with bolder leadership. Assuming that the war 
had failed, and that the South could not be conquered, 
great Democratic mass meetings were held at Concord, 
N. H., Columbus, 0., and Albany, N. Y., to protest against 
the suspension of the right of habeas corpus, even in the 
stress of such a war, against the drafting of men for the 
army, when volunteering should prove insufficient, against 
resort to emancipation as one of the necessities of war, and 
against all resort to force. Ex-President Pierce, in his ad- 
dress, speaks of Mr. Vallandingbam as the " noble martyr 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. *275 

of free speech," and asks if " we do not all know that the 
cause of all our calamities has been the vicious intermed- 
dling of too many of the citizens of the Northern States 
with the constitutional rights of the Southern States, co- 
operating with the discontents of the people of those 
States," by which we suppose he means, too much free 
speech at the North about slavery and its encroachments. 
He says: "From the beginning of this struggle to the 
present moment, my hope has been in moral power. I 
repeat then, my judgment impels me to rely upon moral 
force, and not upon any of the coercive instrumentalities of 
military power," and this when a Confederate army was 
already on its way to sack Philadelphia and lay tribute 
upon New York ! He adds : " We have seen in our ex- 
perience of the last two years, how futile are all efforts to 
maintain the Union by force of arms," when the news was 
already flashing over the wires that Vicksburg had fallen, 
and Lee's army was flying from Gettysburg, and the last 
attempt had failed which would ever be made to invade the 
free States. 

Hon. Horatio Seymour, the uncle of ex-Governor Seymour 
of Connecticut, was at this time governor of New York ; — a 
man of great personal worth and much influence in the 
Democratic party throughout the country. Though he was 
opposed to the election of Mr. Lincoln to the presidency, 
and did not believe that a Republican administration could 
save the Union when the war came on, he considered him- 
self "bound in honor and patriotism to send immediate 
relief to the troops in the field," and was particularly 
prompt and efficient in furnishing them when Pennsyl- 
vania was invaded, for which he was specially thanked, both 
by the President and the Secretary of War. Still, when 
the Emancipation Proclamation was issued and the draft 
came, he committed himself with all his influence against 
the war and against the administration. In his " New 



276 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

York Academy of Music address," before a vast audience, 
he represented Vallandingham's arrest as a lawless outrage,* 
and the impending draft as a usurpation of the general 
government which the States might properly resist, and 
which his audience understood him to mean would justify 
popular insurrection, saying : — 

Remember that the bloody, treasonable and revolutionary doctrine 
of public necessity can be proclaimed by a mob as well as by a gov- 
ernment. — [Draper's " Civil War,''' Vol. Ill, p. 44. 

At any rate it was under the influence of such impressions, 
and such utterances of some of the New Yorii papers, that 
within a fortnight the New York riots broke out. 

These " Draft Riots," as they were called, began on 
Saturday, July 11, 18(33, and as the drafting was suspended 
on Sunday, they subsided for that time, but only to be 
resumed on Monday with greater violence, raging like a 
city fire with increasing fury, until subdued by military 
force, and at not a little loss of life to the rioters as well as 
to peaceable citizens. In such a city there would, of course, 
be found a large number who would not go into the army 
except as drafted, and others who were bitterly opposed 
politically to the present administration, and more still who 
looked upon the negroes as the cause of the war, and were 
jealous of their competition as laborers when so many slaves 
should be set free ; so that with all the support the govern- 
ment found there, it still contained elements enough to sack 
and burn the city when inflamed by unscrupulous poli- 



* If there were ever " treasonable utterances " and '' acts dangerous in time of 
war," it were his. in that military district of Ohio, where there was danger of imme- 
diate invasion, and where a conspiracy ^as organized to release the Confederate 
prisoners collected there. And the President's mitigation of his punishment was 
generous in releasing him from prison and sending him to his own friends, while 
the actit)n of the government in afterwards allowing him to return to Ohio without 
molestation was magnanimous indeed, unless it had confidence enough in its own 
wisdom to foretell the result. For he was nominated for governor by the Dem- 
ocrats in the si)ring of 18C3, and was defeated by John Brough, a war Democrat, 
with a majority of more thiiii 100.000- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM 277 

ticians and reckless newspapers. The city itself was mag- 
nificently loyal, as was shown in the troops she furnished, 
and the wealth she poured out to strengthen the govern- 
ment and make the troops in the field comfortable. Then 
again, the military force of the city and of the State was 
all at the front, the invasion of Pennsylvania by Lee just at 
this time requiring every military organization that could 
be obtained to be there. In this state of things, when the 
disturbances recommenced Monday morning with the draft- 
ing, there was nothing but the police to restrain them, and 
no police could have done themselves more honor than these 
did under such leadership as that of John A. Kennedy, their 
chief, and Thomas C. Acton, one of the Police Commis- 
sioners, — the former of whom was almost killed by the mob, 
and the latter, who for three consecutive days and nights 
never left the police headquarters for a moment, where by 
telegraph he carried on that desperate struggle to the end. 
At first the mob assailed every colored person that could 
be caught upon the street, whether man, woman or child. 
They were hanged at the lamp-posts, set on fire by their 
clothing after they were hanged, and run off the docks. A 
colored orphan asylum, where two hundred orphans were 
supported and taught, under the patronage and care of a 
society of philanthropic ladies, was sacked and burned. 
The enrolling office, where the drafting was going on, was 
demolished, and the block of stores filled with valuable 
goods, of which the office was a part, was rifled, set on fire 
and burned to the ground. This work continued with such 
ferocity and terror from Monday until Thursday, before the 
mob was brought under any control. A few regulars were 
sent from the neighboring forts and a few artillerists, and 
while the former fired upon those who were hurling missiles 
from the tops of the houses, the latter were arresting the 
inmates, and the progress of these riots was checked for the 
time. But it required severer punishment to the rioters, 



278 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

and more serious intimidation to that class of characters, 
before the city could be deemed safe. Rev. Morg;an Di.x,in 
the memoirs of his father. General Dix, as au eye-wituess 
of those scenes, says : — 

At a dozen different points throughout the city battles were in 
progress, and never was greater valor displayed than by the police, 
wlio threw themselves lion-like upon the wild beasts, in proportion 
generally of 100 to 5,000, taking no prisoners, and strewing the streets 
with dead and wounded wherever their swift and terrible blows fell. 
Thus the days wore on, with dust and smoke, with fire and flame, 
with sack of private dwellings and burning of chaiitablc institutions, 
armories and draft stations; with blood and wounds and every imag- 
inable instance of atrocity on the part of the maddened mob, till 
regiments hurriedly withdrawn from the front came speedily back to 
the city, and we saw the grim batteries and weather-stained and 
dusty soldiers tramping into our leading streets, as if into a town just 
taken by siege. There was some terrific fighting between the regu- 
lars and the insurgents — streets were swept again and again by grape, 
houses were stormed at the point of the bayonet, rioters were picked 
off by sharpshooters as tliey fired on the troops from the housetops, 
men were hurled dying and dead in the streets by the thoroughly 
enraged soldiery — until at last, sullen and cowed and thoroughly 
whipped and beaten, the miserable wretches gave way at every point 
and confessed the power of the law. It has never been known how 
many perished in those awful days. According to the lowest esti- 
mate, some 1,200 of the rioters must have been killed and five or six 
times that number wounded, but they hid their losses as far as pos- 
sible, and disposed of their dead in silence and darkness. 

It was to such rioters that Governor Seymour addressed 
himself from the steps of the City Hall, in terms by which 
they understood him to mean that he thought them in the 
right, and sympathized with them rather than with the gov- 
ernment, and told them that he had sent to Washington to 
have the drafting stopped. In his communications with the 
government, he claimed not only that the drafting was un- 
reasonable, but unconstitutional, and should be suspended 
until that point was decided by the courts. To this the 
President in reply, not only argued the lawfulness and ne- 
cessity of it, but that the necessities of the cuse would not 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 279 

allow of any such delay. Thus the administration was 
obliged to commit itself, unless it gav^ up its right to draft 
men for the army anywhere, against the Governor of New 
York, and that great State itself, so far as he represented 
it. How unfairly the Governor represented the State was 
soon shown, for at the next election his previous majority 
of over 10,000 was reversed by one of nearly 30,000 for the 
Republican State ticket. As it was, the State had to suffer 
the odium of his administration, and its influence had been 
such upon New York city, that in the presidential election 
of the next year, the general government felt obliged to put 
the city under martial law for fear of the riots allowed- 
there in connection with the draft. War vessels and trans- 
ports, loaded with troops under General Butler, were drawn 
up before the city and secured a quiet election. This was 
the only time during the war when freemen at the North 
needed soldiers to protect them at the polls.* 

It was during the riots in New York that similar dis- 
turbances took place elsewhere, and were threatened in 
Connecticut. The "white flag" meetings of 1862 were re- 
peated as the " peace meetings " of 1863. In the Demo- 
cratic State convention this year, while the resolutions 
denounce " the heresy of Secession as unwarranted by the 
Constitution," they affirm that ''the time has come when 
all true lovers of the Constitution are ready to abandon the 
monstrous fallacy, that the Union can be restored by the 
armed hand." The influence of such sentiments, and the 
position of such a party, was particularly unfortunate, when 
the State was being called upon for more troops, and these 



* The following incident is a suggestive reminiscence of that period of the war. 
General B. F. Butler was a member of the House of Representatives in Congress 
from Massachusetts, aud from the Gloucester District. Mr. Fernando Wood was 
also a member from New York city, where he had been mayor. In the course of 
debate he referred to General Butler as the '"Duke of Gloucester,"' to which he 
repUed that while " I am too modest to accept that noble appellation, if the hon- 
orable gentleman had styled me the "Duke of York,' I would have gratefully 
accepted that title, for I did trive New York one honest election." 



280 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM, 

calls were constantly repeated, and a draft was threatened 
if volunteering did not furnish them. Prominent citi- 
zens of the State, and business men with large property 
exposed to such a peril, were appealing to the governor 
for protection, or for arms with which to protect them- 
selves. Even the mayor of New York was calling 
upon him for some of his troops to help quell the riots 
there.* In this state of things Governor Buckingham 
called for the organization of two battallions of volunteer 
infantry, for the State volunteers were all in the field, and 
the State militia had been hurried away to the defense of 
Pennsylvania. He also put in charge of trustworthy indi- 
viduals in different parts of the State a certain number of 
arms and rounds of ammunition, with which to keep the 
peace in their own neighborhood, and protect their own 
property. Union Leagues also were organized in almost 
every town, which were resolutely loyal, both to the Union 
and to good order at home, and with their aid and the 
general public sentiment of an old New England popula- 
tion, so different from the mixed and largely foreign popu- 
lation, there was no serious outbreak, or open resistance to 
the draft. Indeed no draft was actually enforced there, 
as the State filled her quota by volunteering. So that 
season of anxiety, and of peril too, passed over safely, and 
the Governor in his Thanksgiving proclamation that year 
refers to it as something for which special thanks were due 
to the Most High ; that " He has preserved us from those 
outbursts of passion which in other communities have dis- 
regarded lawful restraints and violated the public peace," 



* It was dui'ing these riots that Mayor Opdyke and General Worth tele^aplied to 
Governor Buckingham to let them have one of his regiments— a i-egiment just 
returning from the front— to help tliem keep the peace in New York. It had 
reached home and been disbanded. A peace man asked a friend of the Governor, 
"Would he have done it?" and the answer came back, "Of course lie would. 
Didn't New York send Connecticut more than two regiments to vote against his 
re-election in 1860? " That had been swift and righteous retribution, but fortunately 
it was not needed. 



WILLIAM A, BUCKINGHAM. 281 

as well as " inspired us with increased faith in His designs 
to overcome every obstacle to the ultimate triumph of jus- 
tice and equity, and to subordinate every sentiment to the 
advancement of truth and righteousness." 

At the next session of the Legislature, however, which 
was held in the autumn cf 1863, the Governor was called to 
account for those measures taken to preserve the peace of 
the State, judicious and successful as they proved. A reso- 
lution was adopted, setting forth a belief that rifles, mus- 
kets and pistols had been taken illegally " from their proper 
places of deposit, and delivered to individuals, or organized 
bodies of men not recognized by the military law of the 
State," and calling upon the Governor for information. His 
Excellency replied in a message, of which the following is 
an extract: — 

In July last a large number of men in the city of New York, under 
the influence of leaders hostile to the National Union, and in sym- 
pathy with rebellion, banded together to resist the draft ordered by 
the President of the United States under congressional authority. 

They at once became an infuriated mob; they compelled men to 
leave their labors and close their places of business; they went from 
house to house, and from street to street, overpowering whatever 
obstacles impeded their progress. Arson, pillage and robbery were 
unrestrained. Innocent citizens were beaten, shot and hung. The 
rioters became a power so formidable that they could not, even by the 
most solemn pledges that their alleged grievances should be redressed, 
be persuaded to desist from their hellish work. They held the city, 
with its untold wealth and millions of people, for days in the terrors 
of anarchy. 

At the same time riotous demonstrations were made in different 
parts of the country, and without concert of action, gentlemen resid- 
ing in various sections of this State, whose opinions and judgment 
are entitled to high consideration, represented the danger in their 
respective localities in the following language: " Those who oppose 
the draft are making every effort to unite themselves together for 
resistance." " There is no doubt of an organization here to resist the 
draft." " Threats of resistance are loud and frequent in our midst." 
"Notices have been posted, threatening those who aid the draft." 
" Men have pledged themselves to break the boxes which contain the 
names of men enrolled fortlu; draft." "Secret meetings have been 



282 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

held, at which it had been determined to commence open resistance 
on the night of a given day, but for some reason it was postponed." 
" I want a sufficient number of men to guard my property from the 
mob which is likely to arise to pillage and burn." " I do not take 
counsel of my fears when I assure you that I anticipate an outbreak 
in this place." "These disturbances throughout the country are the 
result of a combination of traitors both North and South." 

In this critical and alarming condition of public affairs, men of 
true and well-known patriotism, belonging to both the Republican 
and Democratic parties, offered their services to preserve public 
order, and made requisition upon the Executive for arms. In exam- 
ining the statutes, I found authority to furnish the active militia 
and the enrolled militia when ordered into active service, with arms, 
and nothing to prohibit the use of them by others whenever public 
necessity requires. Also that no place is designated for the deposit 
of arms purchased by the State, and not in the hands of the militia, 
and that the commander-in-chief may issue such orders as he shall 
judge expedient to carry into execution the intents of an act relating 
to the militia, which act is especially intended to give him full power 
and authority to use both the active and inactive militia to prevent 
rebellion and insurrection. 

Considering our perilous condition, and the fact that the active 
militia of the State, including the Governor's Guards, was composed 
of less than 1,000 men, orders were issued from this department for 
the transmission of arms to the following persons, residing in the 
towns herein named, upon the execution of proper bonds for their 
safe keeping and return: — 

1803. 
July, 14, William T. Miner, Stamford, - 65 muskets and sets of aoooutrements. 
" 15, Dexter R. Wright, Meriden. -200 
" 18, Joshua Kendall, Derby. - - - CO 
" 18, D. W. Plumb, Derby, - - - - 40 
" 80, Elisha Carpenter, DanielsonviUe, 80 
" 20, Thomas Guyer, Norwalk. - - CO 
" 31, Major F. W. Russell, Portland, 40 
" 21, Gilbert W. Phillips, Putnam, - 80 
" 21. Captain A. Seeley, Stamford, - 50 
" 21, Rufus Smith, Litchfield. - - - 40 

Total, - V15 

Prior to the assembling of your honorable body, 400 of the above, 
described muskets and as many sets of accoutrements were returned 
to the State arsenal or transferred to military companies newly 
organized in the town, where the arms were sent. 

Exceptions might be taken to the language of the resolution, which, 
a~ssamiag that the Executive has acted without legal authority, cillg 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 288 

npon him for proof, but I prefer to have every public act of mine, 
together with all the circumstances connected with it, fully known, 
and most cheerfully submit to your deliberate judgment, and to the 
impartial decision of your constituents, whether such Executive 
action has put in jeopardy the rights or the person of any law-abidin ; 
citizen, and whether the Executive would not, under the circumstance s 
by which he was surrounded, have proved faithless to the high trusi - 
committed to him by a confiding people, if he had not placed the arms 
of the State where they could have been used to maintain the 
supremacy of law and preserve public tranquillity. 

Wu.i.iAM A. Buckingham. 

This explanation was, of course, satisfactprj. In the 
meantime the draft had never been enforced in Connecticut. 
For though there had been an enrollment of all capable of 
military service, the quota of the State had always been 
supplied by volunteers. True, bounties were paid, and by 
the middle of the war they became large and generous. 
But labor was in great demand and wages high, and few 
could afford to enlist for three years for any bounty. Then 
those who were chiefly influenced by such a consideration, 
and were known in the army as '' hired substitutes '' and 
" bounty jumpers," were com[)aratively few. The substi- 
tutes were largely foreigners, and many had seen service in 
other armies. Some of these names were found in every 
rank of the army, from the lowest to the highest, and not a 
few attained to distinguished promotion.* The rivalry of 
towns in offering high bounties did at one time threaten 



* Surgeon Mayer, of one of the Connecticut rejjiments, writes of them from the 
field : " The conscripts themselves, or rather the substitutes, for there is hardly a 
drafted man among' them, truly comprise all sorts and conditions of men. We 
have Ellsworth's and Hawkins' Zouaves, as well as Billy Wilson's. Full half of the 
consignment have served before iu our own, or in European armies. We have 
quite a number of English, Trish and Germ.in regulars, who came to this country 
for the purpose of enlisting. They have taken the substitute money and entered 
the army at better wages than they ever received before. They esteem their bar- 
gain a good one, and intend to do good service. I have talked with many of this 
class, as well as my limited knowledge of German v.'ould admit, and find them ap- 
parently reliable and honorable men. Tht'v express riiemselvcs much better 
pleased with our service than with that of the European armies. Many of tlieni 
savo their money, and thousands of dollars have been sent to New York and cLse 
where by them since their aiTival. — \" Connecticut in tfw )yar." p. 462. 



284 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

them with perplexity and seemed likely to involve them 
in lawsuits and insolvency, so that the Governor called a 
special session of the Legislature to consider the matter, 
and it was prohibited. 

Bounties were still paid by the general government, the 
State government, and individuals. Patriotic men, who 
could not go into the service, were glad to send a substitute. 
The general government could afford to offer any bounty 
that was necessary to secure men, while the State would 
gladly supplement it to prevent a draft. But the main 
dependence for the prosecution of the war and the increase 
of our armies, was generally felt to be, in the necessities of 
the case and the patriotism of the people. The expectation 
of finishing the war speedily, and with little cost of life and 
money, had been abandoned. Governor Buckingham, from 
the first, had been urging upon the government the enlist- 
ment of more men, and for three years, or the war, instead 
of nine months or a year. Somewhat earlier than this, he 
had written to the War Department, when inquired of as to 
what progress he was making in raising troops : " I have 
not for a year favored enlistments for nine or twelve 
months, and all troops enlisted from this State are for three 
years. It will be time enough to raise volunteers for one 
year when they cannot be secured for a longer period." 
And to the President, who inquires, " What progress is 
making in recruiting for old regiments in your State ?" he 
telegraphs back, "Recruiting for old regiments goes slowly: 
for new, everything looks promising. Four more regiments 
will be forwarded within a month or six weeks." 

The attempt to embarrass the administration by discourag- 
ing enlistments, the demand that the war should stjp and 
be settled by compromises, had signally failed, and after 
our important successes at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, 
where the real resources of the South and of the North had 
been thoroughly tested, and we gained all the encourage- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 285 

ment which they lost, the great crisis of the war proved to 
have been passed, in this midsummer of 1863. 

Now came the calls for the filling up of our armies. 
They were to be recruited up to their highest standard 
of numbers, which had been sadly depleted by our reverses 
on the Peninsula, and also by our very successes in the 
Maryland and Pennsylvania campaigns, and the campaign 
about Vicksburg. We had suffered much from our short 
terms of enlistment and from sending raw troops into the 
most critical battles, as at Antietam. This point of inferi- 
ority was to be remedied, before we could expect to meet 
our opponents with any uniform success. In this respect 
the Confederates for a long time had the advantage of us, 
as those who once entered the service were kept there to 
the end, and acquired that perfect discipline but for which 
such a charge as '• Pickett's last charge "' never could have 
been made. With troops enlisted for only nine months or 
a year, and their term of enlistment expiring perhaps on 
the very eve of a battle, what campaign like Grant's in 
Mississippi, or Sherman's march to the sea, could ever have 
been undertaken ? But with the offer of the loyal Germans 
to meet any requisitions made upon them, and with the 
power given by Congress to the President to make any 
demands that the preservation of the Union should require, 
we shall see, in the present exigencies of the war and 
determination of the people, what was done. 

See what calls were made for troops and upon one of the 
smaller States, which at that time had a population of less 
than half a million (460,000), not one-fifth that of Ohio, 
and less than one-eighth of New York. 

The Count of Paris, in his military history of our war — 
which is considered exact and impartial — states that during 
the first nine months of the war, as reported to Congress at 
its session in December, 1861, the Union government had 
enlisted 680.000 men. 6-40,000 of them in our volunteer 



^86 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

army, 20,000 in the regular army, and as many more in the 
navy. When it is remembered that the demiind for troops 
was all the while increasing rather than diminishing for 
the next three years, we get some idea of what was accom- 
plished when we find that the loyal States had furnished 
2,778,304 troops before the end was reached. 

A summary of the calls for troops may be of interest 
here. The first was for 75,000; immediately after the de- 
feat at Bull Run, 500,000 more were called for, and 400,000 
immediately put into the field. The next year, after the 
Peninsular campaign, came a call for 300,000 three-years' 
men, and 300,000 nine-months' men. The invasion of 
Pennsylvania came soon after and made a heavy draft on 
the militia of that State.* In the summer of 1863 came 
another call for 100,000 men, and in October for 300,000, 
besides 50,000 Pennsylvania militia and thirty regiments 
from New York ; in February, 1864, came a call for 500,000, 
to be raised by draft, if volunteering was insufficient; in 
March for 200,000, and in July for 500,000, these last to 
make good the places of men about to be mustered out 
of the service. All these demands upon the North were 
willingly accepted for the sake of the cause. These two 
million or more, of every class, and condition, and culture, 
who were found capable of military service, submitted to 
the hardships and bared their bosoms to the shot of battle 
to save the Republic. Yet every State furnished its quota, 
and some of them, like Connecticut, never submitted to 
a draft. True, high bounties were offered, but with the 



* Governor C'urtin responded so vigorously to the first call for troops, that when 
General Patterson, who was in command in Pennsylvania, aske.i for as.Ouoinore, 
they were immediately furnished. General Patterson's requisition was afterwards 
revoked by the Secretary of War. on the ground that the troops were not needed; 
but Governor Curtin, instead of disbanding them, (pbtained authority from the 
Legislature to equip them at the Stata's expense, and hold them suiiject to the call 
of the national government. This body of men became known as the '" Penn- 
sylvania Keserves," and was accepted by the authorities at Washington a few 
weeks later. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 287 

high prices paid at that tirrne for labor, skill and character, 
there were few who could not do better iu the ordinary 
industries of life than to enlist into the army. And the 
promptness of spirit with which these heavy and repeated 
demands made upon them for troops was met, is also almost 
as creditable to them as the number they furnished. 

This State had already put 20,000 organized and well- 
equipped troops into the field. The government having 
discontinued the recruiting service in every State not long 
before, and justified the impression that the army was strong 
enough for any probable contingency, the people were de- 
voting themselves diligently and profitably to their business, 
and had to be roused to their duties to their country and 
the perils of the hour. War meetings were held in every 
town, and in some of them every day. The selectmen of 
the towns were appealed to by the Adjutant- General of the 
State to hold such meetings, and " set forth to the people 
the exigencies of the present hour ; " " to pledge private 
means to assist volunteers, or their families," and to appoint 
men " of energetic habits and patriotic impulses to act as 
recruiting officers." It was recommended that each county 
should raise a regiment of its own and every town supply 
its own quota, and where there was any deficiency it should 
be supplied out of the excess of other places, which was 
carried out. 

Among the large and spirited meetings held, as soon as 
Governor Buckingham had issued his appeal for volunteers, 
and which may be regarded as a specimen of the rest, was 
the one at New Haven, where Commodore Foote, fresh from 
his services in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, 
and in opening the Upper Mississippi, presided, and ad- 
dresses made by the Governor, Senator Dixon, Rev. Dr. 
Bacon and others. The places for volunteering were con- 
stantly frequented, and at New Haven on the morning of 
the day when the draft was to have been made if the quota 



288 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

had not been filled, we are told that " an immense crowd, 
estimated at from three to five thousand, gathered at the 
north portico of the Statef House. At noon fifty-two men 
had volunteered ; at 3.45 p. m. twenty-five men were 
needed to fill the quota. The selectmen gave notice that 
the draft would begin at 4 o'clock. They delayed half an 
hour more, when it was announced that the quota of New 
Haven was full, and there would be no draft. Similar 
scenes were enacted, on a smaller scale, in other towns, and 
within a few weeks the entire quota was furnished and the 
regiments were full." The result is thus told in " Connecti- 
cut in theWar," page 254 : — 

Again Connecticut had achieved a giant's work. In two months, 
from a condition of apathy and over-confidence, she had roused to an 
enthusiastic war-spirit, and had raised, equipped, and sent to the 
field, fifteen full regiments, or an average of about a hundred able- 
bodied men from every town. She was probably not the first to fill 
her quota, as The Tribune and some other newspapers at the time an- 
nounced; for the response of Iowa appears to have preceded ours; 
but Connecticut answered the requisition before any other Eastern 
State, and elicited from the Boston Traveller the comment: "Con- 
necticut has behaved splendidly from the beginning of the war, and 
means to persevere in well-doing to the end. She does not brag so 
much as some other States, but she does much useful work. She 
worships the Union and believes that work is worship." 



CHAPTER XVTI. 

Connecticut Soldiers. 

Why Many Officers were Chosen from Civil Life — Their Honorable 
Record in the Service— The Work of Equipping Enlisted Regi- 
ments — Training Camps — Governor Buckingham's Personal Care 
for Soldiers in the Field, and the Respect he Paid to Men who 
Fought for the Union. 

Lest it should be thought that the work of the States in 
supplying the general government with troops was finished, 
when their several quotas were furnished, it should be said 
that it had only begun. These fresh volunteers were to 
be put into camp, equipped, armed, drilled, the cavalry 
mounted, the batteries supplied with guns and horses, and 
the whole furnished with ambulances and army wagons, 
and whatever else was needful for a campaign, before they 
were transferred to the government. This was all to be 
done at the expense of the States, to be repaid by the gov- 
ernment, to be sure, if the government should be main- 
tained ; otherwise such claims would have been as worth- 
less as those of the Confederacy proved to be. This was 
one of the patriotic features of the struggle on the part of 
the Northern States. Their credit was often better than 
that of the government, and they allowed the government 
to have the benefit of it and become indebted to them, on 
such favorable terms, to an almost incredible extent. Con- 
necticut at this very time was negotiating loans, and making 
expenditures, at the rate of $4,000,000 a year, and this was 
chiefly for the maintenance of the army. To begin with, 
camps had to be established and maintained in every State 



290 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

where recruits were to be organized and prepared for the 
field. Here they were retained for months, if not till the 
end of the war, awaiting the government's requisition. 
And even then they were to be transported, infantry, 
cavalry and artillery, at the expense of the State, to any 
point designated by the government. The " Pennsylvania 
Reserve," as it was called, which furnished so many valu- 
able troops in an emergency, was only a large body of her 
militia, kept in camp and under constant drill, so that 
when veterans were wanted, the nearest equivalent to them 
might be found there. 80 Connecticut had her camps, one 
at Hartford, another at New Haven, and still others at Nor- 
wich and Middletown. These camps at home were scenes 
of intenscst activity, where troops were mustering and 
being drilled, and where all the equipments of war were 
being collected, and whence were going forth with each de- 
parting regiment as much of noble and tender sympathy as 
human souls are capable of. 

The Governor of Connecticut was favored in having at 
this time the assistance of Captain Daniel Tyler, a resident 
of Norwich, a native of the State, a graduate of West 
Point, and the only professional soldier in the first three 
regiments furnished. He was at once offered the position 
of brigadier of the State militia, and accepted it on con- 
dition that all its duties should be " performed without 
remuneration for services rendered or expenses incurred." 
He was put in command of the first Connecticut regiment 
that was sent forward, and was the first that arrived in 
Washington from any State, thoroughly equipped, being 
furnished not only with tents, but with a complete baggage 
train, which the government was obliged to borrow the 
next day to distribute rations to other troops. This was 
the first regiment to come up the Potomac, where they were 
met down the river by President Lincoln and his Cabinet 
and cordially welcomed. They were provided with 50,000 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 291 

rounds of ammunition, and rations and forage for twentj 
days. At the recommendation of General Scott, their 
commander was at once made brigadier general of volun- 
teei's. This First Connecticut Regiment was taken for a 
model of equipment by other States, and before its depar- 
ture, agents from New York, Massachusetts; Maine and 
Vermont had visited New Haven to examine and copy it.* 
The difficulty of finding professional soldiers, or those who 
had any military training whatever, to put in charge of 
these new regiments, was, as has been intimated, one which 
beset all our Northern governors. They would naturally 
look for officers and commanders to those who had such 
positions in the State militia, but holiday training was seen 
to be a very different thing from the service of actual war. 
Then they turned to those who had seen service in the 
Mexican war, the only war known to that generation, and 
there were so few at the North who took any part in that 
war, that it did little to supply the immediate necessity. 
Thus the State executives were compelled to exercise their 
best judgment, and commission men mostly from civil life. 
It was probably thought at the time, that Governor Buck- 
inghaiu was running great risks in committing such im- 
portant trusts to so many young men, and to such as had 
no military training whatever. But the list of those who 
held such positions under his commission, vindicates his 
judgment by the promotions conferred upon such by the 
general government, as well as upon those who had a mili- 
tary education, and the honor they all conferred upon the 
nation by distinguished services. All the governors must 
have experienced the same difficulty, and must have been 



* General Tyler and the Connecticut troops took an important part in the first 
and most disastrous battle of Bull Run, where he had command of the first and 
largest division, consisting of 12,000 men. And while he has been charged with 
rashness in making the first attack, he should certainly be credited with holding 
his troops to their formations in the midst of such a disorderly retreat, and for 
protecting such a mass of fugitives and bringing off such an amount of property 
as would otherwise luive been captured. 



292 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

able to furnish much the same evidence of their fidelity to 
this important trust. 

The Generals of Connecticut. 

The following is a list of natives or citizens of Connecticut, or 
officers of Connecticut regiments, who became general officers during 
the war. Other eminent generals were sons or grandsons of Connec- 
ticut men, as Grant, Sherman, McClellan, Pope and Wadsworth. The 
town of which the name is appended is either birthplace or resi- 
dence. Where two towns are named, the first indicates the birth- 
place; the second, subsequent residence. Where a brevet is men- 
tioned, the officer held the full rank below, except where other- 
wise mentioned: — 

Abbott. Henry L., colonel and brevet-majorgeneral, Beverly, Mass. 

Benham, Henry W., major-general, Meriden. 

Birge, Henry W., brevet-major-general, Norwich. 

Bradley, Luther P., brigadier-general, New Haven. 

Blakeslee, Erastus, brevet-brigadier-general, Plymouth-New Haven 

Carrington, Henry B., brigadier-general, Wallingford. 

■Clark, William T., brigadier-general, Norwalk. 

Couch, Darius N., major-general, Danbury-New Haven 

Ely, William G., brevet-brigadier-genera'., Norwich. 

Ellis, Theodore G., brevet-brigadier general, Hartford. 

Ferry, Orris S , brigadier-general, Bethel-Norwalk. 

Goodyear, E. D. S., lieutenant-colonel and brevet-brigadier-general, North Haven. 

Greeley, Edwin S., brevet-brigadier-general. New Haven. 

Harland, Edward, brigadier-general, Norwich 

Hawley, Joseph R., brevet-major-general, Hartford. 

tJubbard, James, brevet-brigadier-general. Salisbury. 

Ives, Brayton, brevet-brigadier-general. New Haven. 

Judd, Henry M., brigadier-general, Westport. 

Ketchum, William S., brigadier-general, Norfolk. 

Lyon, Nathaniel, brigadier-general, Eastford. 

Lee, Edward M., brevet-brigadier-general, Guilford. 

Loomis, Gustavus, brevet-brigadier-general, i-tratford. 

Loomis, John, brevet-brigadier-general, Windsor. 

Mansfield, Joseph K. P., major-general, Middletown. 

Mower, Joseph A., major-general. New London. 

Mackenzie, Ronald S., brigadier-general (Second Artillery). 

Newton, John, major-general, Norfolk, Va. 

Noble, William H., brevet-brigadier-general, Bridgeport. 

Otis, John L., brevot-brigadier-general, Manchester. 

Perkins, Joseph G , brevet-brig idier-general. New London 

Pierson, William S . brevet-brigadier general, Windsor 

Ripley, James W., brigadier ?:eneral, Windham. 

Roberts, Benjamin S., brigadier general, New Haven. 

Rockwell, (Alfred P., brevet brigadier-general, Norwich. 

B.osa, Samuel, brevet-brigadier-general (Twentieth). 

Sedgwick, John, major-general. Corn vail. 

Seymour, Truman, brigadier-general, Burlington, Vt. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 293 

Stedman, Griffin A., brevet-brigadier-general, Hartford. 

Steinwehr, A. Von, brigadier-general, Wallingford. 

Shaler, Alexander, brevet-major-general, Haddam. 

Terry, Alfred H., major-general. New Haven. 

Tyler, Daniel, brigadier-general, Norwich. 

Terry, H. D., brigadier-general, Hartford. 

Totten, Joseph G., brevet-major-general, New London. 

Tourtellotte, John B. , brevet-brigadier-general, Thompson. 

Tyler, Robert O., brevet-major-general, Hartford. 

Wessells, Henry W., brevet-major-general, Litchfield. 

Wright, Horatio G., major-general, Orange-Clinton. 

Williams, A. S., brevet-major-general, Saybrook. 

Whitaker, Edward W., lieutenant-colonel and brevet-brigadier-general, Ashford. 

Whittlesey, Henry M., brevet-brigadier-general, (Retired from service oa the field 

May, '62,) born in New York. 
Ward, Henry C, brevet-brigadier- general, Hartford. 

— [" Connecticut in the War,^'' p. 850. 

Another form in which the States cared for their troops 
was by the faithful and unremitted attention of the gover- 
nors to their wants all through the service. Governor 
Buckingham's devotion to their welfare will furnish a good 
illustration of what was done by the State executives all 
over the North for the comfort of the army, which, supple- 
mented by the unstinted liberality and unswerving patriot- 
ism of the people, did so much more than was ever done 
before to mitigate the sufferings of war. It has been 
said of him : — 

He made it a matter of duty to visit every regiment organized in 

the State, and address to the officers words of aifectionate counsel re- 
specting their duties, rights and responsibilities. " I remember their 
substance well," says an officer (Chaplain J. H. Bradford). " After 
telling us what a noble band of men we had the honor to command, 
and of the high motives which had actuated them to leave their 
homes for scenes so full of hazzard and suffering, he told us that we 
could do much to promote their usefulness and to relieve their priva- 
tions. ' Remember,' said he, ' that the government, though sorely 
pressed, makes ample provision for its defenders. Study well the 
regulations; in them you will find your duties and your privileges 
clearly defined. Whatever the government provides, that your men 
are entitled to receive. See that they are thus provided. If, through 
the carelessness of officers on the higher staffs, such provision is not 
made, do not hesitate to make your complaints until the grievance is 
remedied. If you cannot get redress otherwise, then write me the 



294 WILLIAM A. BUCKlN(iHAM. 

facts fully, and I will apply to the highest power in the land for you." 
Then after an earnest appeal to us to seek divine guidance and pro- 
tection, he bade us farewell. I saw, during my connection with the 
regiment, frequent evidences that the words of His Excellency were 
warmly remembered by many of the officers. — ["Connecticut in the 
War," p. 144. 



That these pledges to redress their wronsrs, and if neces- 
sary to appeal to " the highest power in the land " to ac- 
complish it, were no careless promises of the Governor to 
his troops, will be seen from his subsequent correspondence 
with the government upon such subjects. This corre- 
spondence shows at the same time that he appreciated the 
difficulties with which the several departments of the gov- 
ernment had to contend, and that he never meant to be un- 
reasonable in his demands upon them. At one time he 
complains to the War Department, of the clothing and sup- 
plies issued to his troops ; of " shoes worn through in less 
than a week, and soldiers under the necessity of drawing 
four, five and six pairs before the year is one-half or three- 
quarters gone," and yet gives the department credit for the 
excellence of their system of inspection and supply, while 
at times such miserable failures happen in it. If the issues 
had always been of the quality contemplated, no just com- 
plaint could be made, but the many agencies employed in 
securing the clothing, the haste with which ,the supplies 
were gathered, and the impossibility of extending the ex- 
cellent system adopted by the Quartermaster's Department, 
so as to bring under its just and positive rules, all who are em- 
ployed in supplying the army, there would have been no ocr a- 
sion for such complaint." In another case, when one of his 
regiments had been hurried into the fight of Antietam, and 
required to leave all their personal baggage and most need- 
ful supplies behind, the Governor sends on a trusted friend 
to look after them, and makes the following communica- 
tion to the War Department: — 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 295 

Connecticut will never object to being placed in any post of danger, 
nor to perform any duty which may be demanded in this hour of 
peril to the country, but the loss of health and life occasioned by six 
weeks of unnecessary deprivation of tents, clothing and blankets, 
which they were ordered to leave in Washington, as they went to the 
battlefield of Antietam, and which, if permission was given, and the 
ordinary facilities granted, might be secured in a few hours, will not 
increase the patriotism of their fellow-citizens at home, nor stimulate 
further enlistments. — [" Executive Journal." 

At the suggestion of the Governor, the State also pro- 
vided for a commission of physicians, to visit the field hos- 
pitals of the army wherever they might be, and with the 
consent of the government, they were authorized to send 
home every Connecticut soldier who was found there, and 
could bear the journey. The Governor selected two well- 
known and properly qualified medical practitioners of the 
State, Doctors William H. Coggswell and William M. White, 
who sent home, or to the hospital at New Haven, every such 
soldier wherever he was found, greatly to the relief of their 
friends, and to the recovery of many who were sure to 
die where they were. Digging in the trenches before 
Yorktown, or campaigning among the swamps of Louis- 
iana, is as fatal to life as severe fighting, and what 
must have been the change to these dispirited and home- 
sick boys from the North ? A breath of Northern air, and 
above all the sunshine ot home, breathed hope and health 
and life into many a noble soul who still lives to love his 
friends, and serve his country. 

One other arrangement was made for the benefit of the 
Connecticut troops, and especially for their families at 
home, which, though it implied an immense quantity of de- 
tailed work, was of great value. Arrangements were made 
by which the soldiers, whenever they were paid off, could send 
any part of their pay, whether large or small, to their 
friends, so that it was not uncommon for a man to retain no 
more than six dollars of his monthly pay, and forward the 



296 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

rest to his family. We are told that after a pay day, some- 
times $25,000 would be sent to soldiers' families. We re- 
member after the war was over, at some soldiers' gathering, 
the Governor, upon being complimented upon the success of 
his administration, replied that whatever success he had was 
due in no small measure to the faithful aid rendered him by 
the several members of his staff, and, referring to each of 
them in turn, he spoke of Paymaster General Fitch of New 
Haven, who had the above matter in charge, and worked it 
out with complete success, as having received and remitted, 
in this and the various services of his office, so many " mil- 
lions without error or loss," — a brief testimonial to both 
the ability and fidelity of such an officer, end certainly as 
high a one as could have been desired. 

The Governor was also accustomed, like other governors 
who were near enough to a battlefield to render such service, 
to send forward surgeons for temporary service whenever 
they were needed. Thus he writes to the Secretary of War, 
early in the Peninsular campaign : ^ If during the siege or 
anticipated battle of Yorktown, or at any other point, the 
army should require additional surgical aid.l will be pleased 
to send forward good, experienced surgeons for temporary 
service, on receiving notice by telegraph." He not only 
sent surgeons, but agents of selected ability and trust- 
worthiness, with such instructions as these : " You will 
find many privations incident to the camp and a state of 
war, which cannot be relieved. But when you discover 
grievances that can be redressed, you will give your efforts 
to accomplish that object, through proper officials and 
benevolent associations which are organized for that pur- 
pose." With, such authority and with such assistance at 
hand, we can readily understand what relief would be 
furnished to the sick, the wounded and the dying, even in 
the confusion and carnage of a battle, and how many could 
be relieved from suffering and from impending death. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 297 

With the resources of the " Sanitary Commission " at com- 
mand, and also those of the " Christian Commission," with 
the chaplains, and nurses, and surgeons, and comforts which 
each furnished to both body and soul, and the hearts of 
friends, and which kept step with the march of our armies 
almost wherever they went, (for they were recognized by 
the government as virtually a part of our armies, and had 
protection and free transportation, and all the facilities that 
could be given them in their humane and Christian mission,) 
the world never before saw two such great, well-appointed 
and efficient organizations, working together so enthusi- 
astically as these, and in such harmony with the order of 
the army. In the " Crimean war " such outside work, ^ven 
for such a purpose, was not looked upon with favor, under 
the apprehension that it might interfere with the discipline 
and efficiency of the armies ; and our government at first 
labored under the same apprehension. But the hearts of 
the people demanded it, and freed the government from the 
expense of it, and poured out from their wealth and their 
poverty to sustain it, and sent their noblest men and most 
refined and cultured women to carry it on. 

" The Sanitary Commission soon had an independent trans- 
portation of its own. It had hospital transports, wagons, 
ambulances, railway ambulances and cars. Ingenious men 
devised for it inventions of better litters, better stretchers, 
better ambulances. It secured comfortable transportation 
for the wounded soldier from the battlefield to the hospital. 
On the railroad it soon had its hospital cars, with kitchen, 
dispensary, and a surgeon's car in the midst." It had its 
department of sanitary inspection and a corps of medical 
inspectors, who thoroughly examined troops in the field, 
and reported their condition and needs to their officers and 
to the government, and others who visited the three hundred 
general hospitals of the army and made confidential reports 
to the Surgeon General. They established in the large 



298 WILX.IAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

towns depots for the supplies furnished, each of which had 
its hundred or a thousand associations engaged in collecting 
such supplies. One of them, the Women's Central Associ- 
ation, collected stores to the value of over a million dollars ; 
another, the Northwestern, at Chicago, furnished more than 
a quarter of a million. There was also a department of 
special relief, which took under its charge soldiers not yet 
under or just out of the care of the government, men on 
sick leave or found in the streets or left by their regiments. 
For such it furnished " homes." It also had " homes for 
wives, mothers and children of soldiers," where those visit- 
ing the sick and wounded might find protection, defense, 
food, and shelter. It had its " feeding stations," its " sani- 
tary steamers " on the chief rivers ; and its established 
" agencies " to see that no injustice was done to any soldier ; 
where his widow or his orphans could obtain pensions, back 
pay, bounties, or whatever money was due; where any 
error in his papers could be corrected, and especially where 
no sharper could take advantage of him. it instituted 
Hospital Directories also, where the friends of a soldier could 
obtain information without cost as to his place and con- 
dition, if within a year he had been the inmate of any 
hospital, and where there could be found a record of not 
less than 900,000 names. Its Field Relief stood ready to 
minister to the wounded on the field of battle, and give 
assistance to the surgeons, and supply deficiencies in the 
field hospitals, while jts Relief Corps " waited on the sick 
and wounded, wrote letters for them, gave them stationery, 
postage stamps, newspapers, and helped them while away 
the heavy hours of suffering by reading magazines and 
books to them." 

The Christian Commission was only another similar 
organization. 

It aided the surgeon, helped the chaplain, folh)wed the armies in 
their marches, went into the tienches, and ak)ng the picket line. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 299 

Wherever there was a sick, a wounded, a dying man, an agent of the 
Christian Commission was near by. It gave Christian burial wherever 
possible, and marked the graves of the dead. It had its religious 
services, its little extemporized chapels, its prayer meetings. The 
American Bible Society gave it Bibles and Testaments, the Tract 
Society its publications. The government furnished its agents and 
supplies free transportation, it had the use of its telegraph for its 
purposes, steamboat and railroad companies furthered its objects 
with all their ability. It distributed nearly $5,000,000 in money and 
supplies. — [Draper's " Civil IVar,'' Vol. Ill, p, 515. 

The sources of such supplies were the personal gifts, 
great and small, of all classes, and the " Soldiers' Aid 
Societies " all over the land kept their treasuries full and 
enabled them, with the favor of military officers and the 
facilities furnished by the government, to befriend so many, 
and befriend them when their hold on life was the weakest, 
their hearts most discouraged, and their friends most dis- 
tressed. " What country ?" it might well be asked, " what 
age of the world can show such a splendid example of 
' organized mercy ? '" 

Dr. Draper, in his " History of Our Civil War," Vol. Ill, 
page 615, from which we have quoted so freely, has 
given a just and sti'iking representation of the work done 
by the United States Sanitary Commission, under the presi- 
dency of Rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows of New York, and also 
of the United States " Christian Commission," at the head 
of which was that philanthropist, George H. Stuart of Phila- 
delphia, who twice declined a seat in President Grant's 
Cabinet, but consented to serve on the first board of Indian 
Commissioners. The nature of the work of each is given, 
and, somewhat, the combined results of both. But the 
countless "Soldiers' Aid Societies" spread all over the North, 
doing a similar work, or auxiliary to these already uk'u- 
tioned ; the " Soldiers' Rests " established on every great 
thoroughfare where departing and returning troops were 
needing refreshment, if not temporary care and nursing; 



300 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM 

the " State agents " stationed at such important points as 
New York and Philadelphia, on purpose to look after the 
welfare of every soldier of the State, as Governor Buck- 
ingham kept Colonel Almy at New York all through the 
war, where 200,000 soldiers of Connecticut and other 
States, and 60,000 sick and wounded, received such atten- 
tion as they were passing to and from the war ; these all 
show how numerous and complete these organizations were, 
and what Christian humanity there was in so many hearts 
while this death struggle was going on to save the Union. 

We remember accompanying Governor Buckingham on 
a visit across the Potomac, to see his superb regiment of 
heavy artillery just organized. It had been recruited up to 
] ,800 men, and they were as well drilled in the use of the 
musket as in the management of their heavy cannon, and 
when we saw them reviewed by the Governor, there must 
have been 1,400 or 1,500 in line — as fine young fellows in 
manners and morals, and as faultless in equipments and 
drill, as new recruits could well be. It was largely a Hart- 
ford county regiment, and many of their officers, like their 
commander. Colonel Tyler, natives of Hartford. General 
McClellan was just setting out on his Peninsular campaign, 
and the first troops sent down the Potomac were being 
embarked that very day. At dinner, one of the young 
officers said to his commander: " Colonel, our boys are 
feeling badly that other regiments should be sent off on this 
expedition while we must be kept here guarding this old 
fort." And we remember with peculiar satisfaction the 
Colonel's answer, who, though a young man himself, showed 
his reflection and a proper comprehension of their chief 
duty : " Nonsense ; our first duty is to have a good regi- 
ment, and if we have one we shall be wanted." The 
papers soon announced that the First Connecticut Heavy 
Artillery were to join McClellan's army, taking with them 
as they did a heavier siege train than was used by either 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 301 

the French or the English against Sebastopol, and, indeed, 
" exceeding in weight by fifty per cent, any guns that had 
ever before been placed in siege batteries." Some of them 
weighed sixteen or seventeen thousand pounds, and in a 
train of seventy-two pieces, the greatest wonder is that 
every piece, save one, should have been safely transported 
through the swamps of the Chickahominy and used success- 
fully to save our army from threatening annihilation in its 
last battle at Malvern Hill. 

It was to ascertain the condition of that regiment, and 
confer with its commander about the proposed expedition, 
that Governor Buckingham visited them, and to do what- 
ever else was necessary to secure their highest efficiency. 
He loved to visit his troops, and he could hardly see them 
without finding something more to be done for their com- 
fort, if not for their efficiency. Thus, upon leaving one of 
their camps, he asked : " Well, boys, is there anything 
else 1 can do for you?" "If you can hurry up the pay- 
master we shall be obliged to you, for it is a long time since 
we have seen him," was the answer. " Certainly, I '11 see 
what I can do about it," were his parting words, and they 
found that before he left he had drawn his personal check 
for the amount due them. As to providing transportation 
for those who would seek their sick or wounded friends in 
the field, or bring home their dead, or furnish those in 
prison with some comforts, or only give the boys in camp 
some pleasant remembrances of home life and the Thanks- 
giving delicacies they used to enjoy there, in all such work 
the Governor took the liveliest interest, and spared neither 
trouble nor expense to aid in it.* 



* As an illustration of it in the last particular : "On Thanksgiving Day, 18(54, with 
filial victory close at hand, the United States Sanitary Commission sent to the sol- 
diers in the field a dinner, consisting among other things of tiOO tons of turkeys, in 
number about 200,000, and Connecticut furnished her full share of these. For one 
day at least, in camp and field and hospital, the quiet bird v?hich plain Ben Frank- 
lin wished to see inscribed upon our armorial field, stood forth supreme, and effec 
tually superseded the proud ' bird of freedom.' " — [" Connecticut in the Wyj?-," p !7-J. 



302 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Finally, Governor Buckingham was accustomed to show 
honor to Connecticut's fallen heroes, and as sincerely to 
the humblest of them as to the highest. We are sure that 
he could not have attended the burial of one of his com- 
manders, with more respect or tender sympathy with the 
relatives, than when he dropped in upon the funeral of some 
faithful private, and spoke with the neighbors and the widow 
and orphaned children. "■ It is a noticeable fact that Con- 
necticut furnished the first four martyrs of the war of the 
rank of general, colonel, major, and captain — Lyon, Ells- 
worth, Winthrop and Ward — the first four men also whose 
heroic deaths gave a marked impulse and momentum to 
the war spirit of the North." 

When the war broke out, General Nathaniel Lyon, then 
a captain in the regular army, was in charge of the arsenal 
at St. Louis. Secession was sweeping over the State, and 
" St. Louis became a furnace of rage and riotous tumult." 
A Secession mob had gathered about the arsenal to strip it 
of its arms and ammunition, when he decoyed them away, 
loaded all that was valuable upon a steamer by night and 
transported it to Illinois. A rebel camp was organized 
under the rebel governor, just outside the city and several 
thousand half-armed and raw troops were gathered there 
under a Confederate general, to seize the arsenal. General 
Lyon anticipated their attack. He surrounded their camp 
so suddenly, and attacked them with such vigor, that he 
captured them all in thirty minutes. Then came the in- 
vasion of the State by the Confederate troops from Arkan- 
sas, when he recruited a volunteer force, which, though 
quite inferior to the enemy, he led across the State with 
such rapidity, and used with such courage and skill, that he 
soon placed himself in command of the entire State, except 
the southwest corner. From that quarter danger was always 
threatening. When, some two months after, the Confederate 
generals. Price and McCuUock, had united tbeii" forces in 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 303 

the neighborhood of Springfield, he hriTied thither to en 
counter them. He knew their force was quadruple his own, 
hut considering a retreat more hazardous than a battle, he 
attacked them in camp at daybreak, on Wilson's creek. 
It was a bloody battle. " Of the 5,000 national troops, 
1,300 were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, while of the 
Confederates, who were 10,000 strong, 1,200 were killed or 
wounded." The national forces fell back on Springfield 
and Rolla, where they were not pursued. General Lyon's 
movement, though it resulted in defeat, enabled the Union 
men in Missouri to organize a government, and array the 
power of the State on the national side. In that battle 
General Lyon fell. Bringing all his men to the front for a 
final effort, his horse was killed, and he was wounded in 
the head and leg, but mounting another horse, he dashed to 
the front to rally his wavering line, and was shot through 
the breast. " In the confusion of the retreat, his remains 
were left behind. Mrs. Phelps, wife of Colonel John S. 
Phelps, member of Congress for the district, a Unionist, 
caused the body to be incased in a coffin hermetically sealed, 
and then concealed it under some straw in an old cellar. 
Fearing it would be disturbed by the rebel soldiers, she had 
it taken out and buried in the night, and delivered to his 
friends when they arrived. These remains were brought 
to Connecticut to be interred in his native town, and all the 
way thither they were met by tearful multitudes strewing 
the choicest flowers on the brave man's coffin. At St. Louis, 
Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York and Hartford, the body 
lay in state." At Eastford, his home, it was estimated that 
his funeral was attended by 10,000 people. The services 
were held in the Congregational church, ex-Governor Cleve- 
land presiding. Judge Carpenter delivered an historical 
address, and Hon. Galusha A. Grow of Pennsylvania, (both 
natives of Eastford,) an oration. Remarks were also made 
bv Governor Buckingham, Governor Sprague, Senator Fos- 



304 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

ter, Major General Casey, Major Demiiig of Hartford, and 
others, and his remains were reverently committed to the 
earth, with military honors. General Lyon bequeathed $30,- 
000, almost his entire property, to the government, to aid 
in the preservation of the Union, and to the State his sword. 
Another of the fallen heroes of Connecticut was thus 
honored by the Governor, It was Major General Sedgwick 
of the regular army, of an old and illustrious family, which 
had marched under the banner of Oliver Cromwell and 
acquired distinction there, and also in our Revolutionary 
war, where his father was a major and one of the officers 
grouped about Washington at Valley Forge. He was 
graduated at West Point, the second in his class, and 
among his classmates were General Joseph Hooker and 
the Confederate Generals Braxton Bragg and Jubal A. 
Early. He distinguished himself in the Mexican war, had 
an important part in the Peninsular campaign, and was in 
command of the Sixth Army Corps which carried Mary's 
Heights so magnificently in the Chancellorsville campaign, 
and reached the field of Gettysburg on the second day of 
the battle, after one of the most extraordinary forced marches 
on record, and contributed to the result by his steady 
courage and the confidence which his presence among 
troops always inspired. He was twice wounded in leading a 
charge at Antietam, and while placing his artillery in posi- 
tion at Spottsylvania courthouse was shot in the head by 
a sharpshooter, and instantly killed. " As a soldier, he was 
a man of few words, but of great deeds. Quiet, unobtru- 
sive, unambitious, he excited little envy, while all were 
ready to do homage to his virtues and his genius. Twice he 
was offered the command of the Army of the Potomac, and 
twice he refused it." With such a nature, and a peculiar 
affection for his friends, and home, and ancestral acres, we 
are not surprised to hear him say, as he surveys the 
landscape: "Is there another spot on earth so beautiful 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 305 

as Cornwall Hollow ! " Thither he was tenderly borne,, 
escorted by Governor Buckingham, the State delegation in 
Congress, and many others, there to meet thousands from 
the surrounding towns. The Legislature proposed a public 
funeral, but this not being in accord with the character of 
the man or the feelings of his friends, an appropriate 
sermon was preached in the village church by the pastor. 
His body was enshrouded in the American flag. '■ No 
military salute was fired above his grave, but as the body 
was lowered to its last resting place, a peal of thunder, like 
the roar of distant artillery, reverberated along the heavens, 
sounding the requiem. And the tired soldier rested." 

Governor Buckingham's appreciation of whatever was 
noble and faithful to duty in any soldier of any rank, and 
his personal sympathy with him and his friends in both his 
successes and in his defeats, is noticeable in the reception 
he gave to his returning regiment. Aware of the danger 
to which he was sending them, and knowing that it must 
be a deadly strife, with the anxiety of a parent for his own 
sons, he gave them his best counsel, resolved to sustain 
them by all that his official position could do for them, sent 
them special relief when they needed it, secured their pro- 
motion as they deserved it, pitied their premature fall, and 
comforted their friends in having given them up to so 
necessary and noble a duty. Of this, his reception of 
two of his regiments at Hartford, after their term of enlist- 
ment had expired and they had re-enlisted for the war, will 
furnish an illustration. He had commissioned their officers 
and given them his counsel, and put their tiags into their 
hands, and sent them off with his benediction and the 
prayers of neighbors and kindred. And as they come 
home with diminished ranks, and the laurel is put upon so 
many heads, and they meet so many wearing mourning for 
those who went out with them and have not returned, the 
Governor voices the feelings of the crowd in both their joy 



306 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

and grief. The Hartford Press thus speaks of one of these 
receptions : " The veterans were greeted all along the line 
of march by crowds of people with cheers, hurrahs, and wav- 
ing handkerchiefs. When the line arrived in front of the 
State House it halted, and the veterans were received by the 
Governor, State officers and both Houses of the Legislature. 
Governor Buckingham made a brief, but most eloquent and 
cordial address of welcome. He said in substance : — 

" General Harland, ofl&cers :md men of the Eighth and Eleventh 

Regiment: 

" In behalf of the Legislature and the people of Connecticut, I greet 
you with a hearty welcome. Not as prodigals returning liome, but 
as having performed a most honorable and hazardous duty. 

"When the rebel States insulted our nation's flag, turned their guni 
upon the nation's forts, and attacked the government, you stepped 
out bravely to protect them. I have \F,atched you with friendly 
interest through all your honorable career. I remember when you 
went out with the gallant Burnside, encountered perils at Hatteras, 
and won a victory at Roanoke. I remember you at Newbern, at Fort 
Macon and at South Mountain. / 

" And God grant that we shall nev6r forget that fatal struggle at 
Antietam, where your first colonel, fhe noble Kingsbury, fell; where 
the intrepid Griswold led his company across that bloody stream, and 
gave up his life gladly; where Lieutenant Wait would not go back 
when wounded, but cheered on his men till a fatal bullet laid him 
low in death. There sixtj'-uine of your number learned ' how sweet 
it is to die for one's country.' 

" We owe you a debt of gratitude we can never repay. We would 
have your names inscribed on the granite and marble. They will be 
written in the history of your country. Your banners came back 
tattered and torn, but covered with honor and inscribed with such 
glorious names as Roanoke and Antietam, where you fought in 
defense of the principles of liberty. 

" Your re-enlistment is a pledge that you first enlisted from motives 
of patriotism, and that you, too, stand ready to give your lives, if 
need be, in defense of your country. So long as our hearts continue 
to beat, they shall beat in gratitude to the members of the Eighth 
and Eleventh Regiments." 

In this spirit, and with such uncalculating devotion to 
the safety of the Republic, did Connecticut and her Gov- 
ernor gird themselves anew for the most critical and san- 
gninai-y part of the war. 



CHAPTER XYIIl. 
The First National Thanksgiving. 

It was Brightened by Xews from Chattanooga — Relative Condition 
of the Northern and Southern Armies at this Time— President 
Lincoln at the Gettysburg Cemetery — Popular Feeling — The 
Battle Hymn of the Reformation. 

After the fall of Vicksburg and the battle of Gettysburg, 
which took place in July of 1863, no very important mili- 
tary movements were made by the Army of the Potomac, 
or by General Lee's army, until the spring of 1864. Both 
these armies by their brave fighting on the Peninsula, at 
Antietam and at Gettysburg, had been sadly depleted and 
must be recruited and reorganized. The Army of the 
Potomac had not yet found its commander, nor the several 
Union armies their commander-in-chief. The term of 
enlistment of the nine-months' men and of those who 
had re-enlisted for two years had expired, and with the 
reduction of the army by such severe campaigns, and such 
a sacrifice of all the material of war, nothing could be done 
so important for the next nine months as to stimulate 
enlistments, enforce drafts where necessary, organize and 
drill troops, manufacture arms and clothing, and collect all 
the varied supplies for the armies in the field. Hence the 
President's large and repeated calls for volunteers, and the 
encouragement of the Northern governors to make them 
large and frequent enough to finish the war. Then became 
apparent the comparative resources of the two sections of 
the country. The South had been preparing and husbands 
ing her resources for this very conflict, and at the first was 



308 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

stronger in the field than we were. Her rigid conscription 
brought every man capable of military service into the 
army, and they were kept there till the war was ended. 
But when she had lost her 20,000 in the Peninsular cam- 
paign, and 30,000 at Gettysburg, and twice the whole 
nnnii)er at Vicksburg, though we had lost perhaps as many, 
how was she to replace that loss as we could ? Besides 
this, blockade running had been so checked that she 
could neither import arms or supplies freely, nor export 
cotton to be the basis of her credit abroad. Gold was 
worth 1.100 per cent, premium in the Confederate capital. 

General Lee, as well as General Grant, has been criti- 
cised for his wasteful expenditure of men in the war. It 
■seems awful in either case, to talk deliberately about the 
expenditure of so many human lives to win a battle. And 
the only justification can be that some things, like human 
liberty, and good government, and true religion, are worth 
even more than life itself, and may be exchanged the one for 
the other. And even the severities of war are somewhat 
palliated by the sharpness that makes it shorter. It is, 
however, rather on the ground of lack of wisdom than of 
inhumanity that General Lee is censured. That he should 
have been so prodigal of his brave and well-disciplined 
troops as to require two of his commanders. Hill and 
Magruder, to sacrifice 5,000 of their "effective men" in 
crossing the Chickahominy, and of Longstreet 6,000 more 
at Malvern Hill, accomplishing nothing as their commander 
says, and insisting upon Pickett's " last charge" at Gettys- 
burg, when " more than 2,000 were killed and wounded to 
no effect in scarcely thirty minutes," as the corps com- 
mander admits,* when it might have been known as well 
then as afterwards that the Confederacy never could re{)lace 



* (See " War Hook, Vol. Ill, pp. 345-7). Confederate General Lonsstreet'8 article : 
"It was thus I felt when Pickett," etc.. 345. "More than ",000 in about thirty 
minutes," 347. "I do not think there was any necessity for giving battle at Gettys- 
burg," etc., 350. '■ I felt our last hope was gotie," 351. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 309 

that splendid army, does seem to imply that he under- 
valued the military qualities of his opponents, or sadly 
overestimated his own. 

With General Grant it was different. His losses could 
be replaced. The resources and spirit of the North had 
only begun to be drawn upon, and when the spirit behind 
these resources was thoroughly roused, as it was by the 
invasion of the free States, he might well expect that new 
armies would be furnished if the old ones were swept away, 
and that the vast stores of warlike material so carefully 
collected, and so quickly destroyed, would all be supplied 
again. With him the war had come to be essentially a 
question of endurance and exhaustion, and the result vindi- 
cated his judgment. Notwithstanding the prodigious losses 
of the Army of the Potomac during the first two years of 
the war, and the 25,000 more needlessly thrown away at 
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and the little accom- 
plished toward ending the war, except weakening the 
enemy to an equal extent, when Yicksburg fell and Gettys- 
burg was fought, the Confederacy ought to have read its 
doom and arranged for the best terms of adjustment, before 
Sherman had made his devastating march through the 
South, and Grant had decimated its army in the Wilderness 
and accepted the surrender of the remnant of it on the 
sacred soil of Virginia. As the Coimt of Paris has justly 
said, in his account of that battle. General Lee, as a 
soldier, at the close of that third day's fight at Gettysburg, 
" must have foreseen Appomattox."" 

In the meantime General Grant was clearing the Missis- 
sippi valley, opening the river to navigation, and doing some 
of his most vigorous campaigning, before he was called 
East to be put in command of all our armies, and take 
charge of the Potomac army in particular. It was hard 
and expensive work, particularly costly in men, and all 
the material and facilitiets of war. The destruction and 



310 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

rebuildingof railroads, which had come to play such an im- 
portant part in campaigning, especially in a country so vast 
as this, was an item of almost the first consideration. Here 
was the Ohio and Mobile railroad, running hundreds of 
miles from Ohio to Mobile Bay, Ala., upon which both armies 
were almost equally dependent, and which it was the con- 
stant struggle of each to hold and keep in repair, or to 
destroy if they could not hold it, and to recover it again 
and then rebuild it. As showing this kind of work, take 
Sherman's Meridian expedition, undertaken about this time 
(February, 1864). His force was not large, and his loss 
small, yet he marched 4(X) miles during the shortest month 
of the year, and destroyed, we are told, "150 miles of rail- 
road, 67 bridges, 700 trestles, 20 locomotives, 28 cars, 
several thousand bales of cotton, several steam mills, and 
over two million bushels of corn." At Meridian, it is said, 
that "for five days 10,000 men worked hard with axes, 
sledges, crowbars, drawbars, and fire, and the town with its 
depots, storehouses, arsenals, offices, hospitals and canton- 
ments was totally destroyed. Nothing was spared except 
the inhabited houses." One of his commanders reported 
" the destruction of sixty miles of railroad ties, and iron 
burnt and bent, and fifty miles of road thus ruined," be- 
sides bridges, locomotives and cars. As the object of the 
expedition was to destroy the resources of the enemy for 
the continuance of the war, it is easy to see that, awful as it 
makes war in such a form, it was fast accomplishing its 
purpose. These were resources without which no army 
could be transported over such great States, or maintained 
in the field. And when these were seriously impaired, the 
war was coming to an end. The same was true of the ma- 
terial for an army. The Confederacy was fast using up its 
men who were fit for military duty, however rigid its con- 
scription might be. Here is where the North always had an 
immense advantage over the South. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 311 

The populous and resolute Northwest poured her troop> 
into the Mississippi valley as fast as her armies there were 
depleted, while New England and the Northern States 
recruited the Army of the Potomac faster than the battles 
of the Wilderness and the siege of Petersburg could reduce 
it. If the Confederacy could have done this, they never 
would have let Chattanooga fall or Sherman reach Atlanta 
and Savannah, much less march from there almost unop- 
posed to the sea. That was their weak point from the 
beginning, lack of men for their armies. Some of the 
Southern States, also, like North Carolina and Tennessee, 
felt it to have been a sad mistake to follow the lead of 
South Carolina and secede from the Union.* They suffered 
heavily in the capture of their blockade runners, whose 
cargoes of gold, arms and army supplies went into our 
treasury, while the swift vessels which had carried them were 
put into our service,! and by the time the war was half 



* As showing the Union sentimpnt of those States and disaffection toward the 
Confederation, such items as these were a part of the news of the day : August 
5, 1863 — "Large numbers of refugees from East Tennessee arrived at Lexington, Ky. 
A body of 300 of them had a fight in Powell's valley, near the Cumberland moun- 
tains, with 400 rebel cavalry and defeated them, after having lost sixty-five (<f their 
number taken prisoners." October -26. 1863— '"A party of North Carolina and 
Georgia refugees, about 500 strong, making their way to East Tennessee, was 
attacked at Warm Springs, X. C , by a detachment of the Twenty-fifth Xorth Caro- 
lina regiment. The rebels lest six killed and thirty wounded. The Unionists 
finally joined the Union forces in East Tennessee." If we mistake not, there were 
lOO.iXXi or more Union men in our armies from Tennessee. 

t So rigid had this blockade become, as early as the beginning of 186-3, that it is 
amusing to see how much imiKjrtanoe was attached by the Confederates, to a tem- 
porary interruption of it at Charleston, and the successful attempt of one of these 
vessels with a valuable cargo to get out of the harbor, and which found no imita- 
tors. The following circular was immediately issued : 

Headqiarter!? of the Land asd Xaval Forces. I 
CI1ARLE3TON, S. C. January 31. i' 

"At about 5 o'clock this morning, the Confederate States naval force on this 
station attacked the U. S. blockading fleet off the harbor, and sunk, dispersed and 
drove off and out of sight for the time, the entire hostile fleet. Therefore, we, the 
undersigned commanders, respectively of the Confederate States naval and land 
forces in this quarter, do hereby formally declare'the blockade by the V. S.. of the 
said city of Charleston, S. C, to be raised by a superior force of the Confederate 
states, from and after this 31st day of January, A. D. 186.?. 
G. T. Be.\i7reoArd, General Commanding. 
D. N. iNfii-.AHAM. Fl:i;.' i>tTl'H!( iini-nindingXavalForcesin S. C." 



312 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

over some of their wisest military commanders and states- 
men felt that the inability to raise troops in sufficient 
numbers must make the struggle hopeless. 

It was during October and November of this year that one 
of the great operations of the war — which hastened the end, 
the capture of Chattanooga — was successfully accomplished. 

The town of Chattanooga lies on the south side of the Tennessee 
river, 300 miles or more from its mouth. At this point it flows 
through the mountains with a deep and strong current. It is at the 
northern end of a valley five or six miles in width, with Mission:iry 
Kidge on the east rising from 500 to 800 feet above the valley, and 
and with Lookout mountain, 2,200 feet above tidev^^ater, a little to the 
southwest. This mountain pushes up abruptly to the river, leaving 
scarcely room between it and the river for the Ohio and Mobile rail- 
road and others, which connect the Northern lakes with the Mexii-an 
Gulf, with room for the town lying a little farther north. At its 
northern end and nearest to the town, the mountain rises almost per- 
pendicularly, then breaks off iu a gentle slope of cultivated fields to 
near the summit, where it ends iu a palisade thirty or forty feet in 
height. On this gently sloping ground, between the upper and lower 
]);\lisades. there is a single farmhouse, which is reached by a wagon 
road from the valley to the east. — ["IFar Book." Vol. Ill, p. 685. 

General Grant's account of the states.- of affairs when he 
took command, shows that at that time Rosecrans was 
practically besieged, and was short of ammunition and of 
medical supplies. The state of things was deemed so 
critical at Washington, that Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of 
War, had been sent to Louisville to meet General Grant 
and put him in command of the whole military division of 
the Mississippi. One of his first orders telegraphed to 
General Thomas was, that Chattanooga must be held at all 
hazards, and informing him at the same time that he would 
be at the front as soon as possible ; to which Thomas 
replied : " We will hold the town till wc starve." Burn- 



The foreign consuls in tlK!<.,'()nfedera<;y were officially notified of the alleged fact, 
in a circular from J. P, Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of State, "for the infor- 
mation of sucli vessels of your nation as may choose to cari'y on commerce with 
the now open port of Charleston." 



WILLIAM A. BUCKLNGHAM. 313 

side was in command at Knoxville, and in about as desperate 
condition as Rosecrans, only he was not yet besieged. The 
government at Washington was distressed about him, and 
constantly telegraphing to Grant to relieve him it possible. 
The Confederacy also were known to be dispatching Long- 
street's superior corps of 15,000 troops, besides Wheeler's 
5.000 cavalry, to recover Knoxville, knowing that if they 
were ever to regain those States so fast drifting away from 
the Lost Cause, it must be done then, when Burnside was 
so beset and Rosecrans could do nothing for his own 
relief. General Sherman was engaged in repairing roads 
and rebuilding railroads from Memphis towards Chatta- 
nooga to bring up supplies, though the railroads were 
destroyed behind him as fast as they were built. Sherman 
was ordered to abandon that work, intercept a rebel force 
entering East Tennessee, and push on with the utmost 
dispatch to Chattanooga, which he did. There was another 
re-enforcement also which was hastening to their relief. 
It was Hooker's superb Eleventh and Twelfth corps of the 
Army of the Potomac, consisting of 20,000 troops, trans- 
ferred from the shores of the Atlantic almost in a night to 
the sides of Lookout mountain in the valley of the Missis- 
sippi. The origin of that movemeht, as given by Mr. Draper 
in his history of the war. reads more like romance than 
history, and yet the reality and results of it changed the whole 
complexion of our military operations in the Southwest. 

The government was tilled vritli apprehension lest Rosecrans should 
abandon Chattanooga and attempt a retreat, which could only end 
liisastrously. At a consultation, Lincoln seemed lo be almost in 
despair. "I advise," said Stanton, '"that a powerful detachment 
sliould be sent from the Army of the Potomac to open the road." 
Lincoln smiled incredulously. Halleck considered such an attempt 
impractical. " I do not," .said the Secretary of War, " offer this 
opinion without having first thoroughly informed myself of all the 
details. I will undertake to move 20.000 men from the army on the 
Rapidan, and place them on the Tennessee near Chattanooga, within 
nine days." N'ot without reluctance did Lincoln give his const ut 



314 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

that the Eleventh and Twelfth corps should be so moved; his impres- 
sioa was that they were not more than 15,000 or 16,000 strong, for 
since the Peninsular campaign it had been the habit of officers to 
underestimate their strength. The measure once determined upon, 
tlie energetic Secretary had everything cleared off the roads, and soon 
an almost continuous line of cars was transporting the troops. They 
■were fed as they went along; not a moment's delay was permitted. 
In this surprising movement, but a single man was lost. With so 
much celerity and accuracy was it conducted, that the Confederates 
knew nothing whatever of it until Hooker was in their front. 
Hooker's troops were kept along the railroad, that it might not aggra- 
vate the suffering at Chattanooga. The strength of these two corps 
was 23,000, and thus with their artillery trains, baggage and animals 
they were transferred from the Rapidan in Virginia to Stevenson in 
Alabama in seven days, a distance of 1,192 miles, twice crossing the 
Ohio river. — [Draper's " Civil War," Vol. Ill, p. 11. 

General Bragg, in command of the Confederate forces at 
this point, and with his extensive and advantageous fortifi- 
cations, might well have felt secure of a bloodless victory. 
He had only to wait for famine to do its work, while he 
wasted neither men nor ammunition in hastening the re- 
sult. He had also a force of some 60,000, while ours might 
have been at least 80,000, but was in a disadvantageous 
position. The Confederacy saw an opportunity to recover 
Kentucky and Tennessee, and General Longstreet had been 
ordered to operate against Burnside at Knoxville, while 
Bragg was to hold Rosecrans. The government at Wash- 
ington was telegraphing Grant to relieve Burnside if possi- 
ble. The struggle, however, was made at Chattanooga. 
Grant brought to his aid Sherman, with a portion of the 
Army of the Tennessee, Sheridan with his cavalry. General 
W. F. Smith's engineers. General Thomas with part of the 
Army of the Cumberland, and also a portion of the Army 
of the Potomac, under Generals Hooker, Howard, Slocum 
and Granger. Without waiting for better roads or better 
weather, he ordered the assault of the enemy's works on 
November 23. 

General Smith, the chief engineer of his army, had built 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 315 

pontoon boats, and with troops in them floated them down 
the river in the darkness of the night, and with such suc- 
cess as to capture the sentries at the landing, and had also 
thrown two bridges across the river over which Sherman 
with his large force and good quantity of supplies, crossed 
safely and reached Chattanooga without much fighting, 
adding greatly to the courage and hope of the Union 
forces. Grant had his headquarters at Fort Wood, a well- 
fortified position just east of the town, and which com- 
manded a view of Missionary Ridge on the left, and Lookout 
mountain on the right, and indeed brought every position 
and movement of the enemy within range. When he 
moved forward to Orchard Knob, where Thomas was form- 
ing his resistless line of assault, whence Sherman seized 
and held possession of those strongly fortified heights of 
Missionary Ridge, where General Bragg and the bulk of his 
army lay entrenched ; it became certainly the most " pic- 
turesque," if not the most skillfully fought battle of the 
war. And especially when Hooker climbed that Lookout 
mountain, and in the mists and smoke could be followed lip 
the high ascent, until his columns and their flags were seen 
above the clouds. This scene has well become in painting 
and poetry, as well as in history, the " Battle Above the 
Clouds." The following is General Grant's account of it 
and of the result : — 

Thomas and I were on the top of Orchard Knob. Hookers advance 
now made our line a continuous one. It was in full view, extendip<j 
from the Tennessee river, where Sherman had crossed up the Chicka- 
mauga river to the base of Missionary Ridge, over the top of the 
north end of the ridge, to Chattanooga valley, then along parallel to 
the ridge a mile or more, across the valley to the mouth of Chatta- 
nooga creek, thence up the slope of Lookout mountain to the foot of 
the upper palisade. The day was hazy, so that Hooker's operations 
were not visible to us except at moments when the clouds would 
rise. But the sound of his artillery and musketry was heard inces- 
santly. The enemy on his front was partially fortified, but was soon 
driven out of his works. At 2 o'clock the clouds, which had so 



316 WILLIAM A. BUCKJN(JUAM. 

obscured the top of Lookout mountain all day long as to hide what- 
ever was going on from the view of those below, settled down so and 
made it so dark where Hooker was as to stop operations for the time. 
At 4 o'clock Hooker reported his position as impregnable. By a little 
after 5 o'clock direct communication was established and a brigade of 
troops was sent from Chattanooga to re-enforce him. These troops 
met with some opposition, which was soon overcome, and I tele- 
graphed to Washington: "The fight to-day progressed favorably. 
Sherman carried the end of Missionary Ridge, and his right is now at 
the tunnel and his left at Chattanooga creek. Troops from Lookout 
valley carried the point of the mountain, and now hold the eastern 
slope and a point high up. Hooker reports 2,000 prisoners taken, 
besides which a small number have fallen into our hands from Mis- 
sionary Ridge."— [" yVar Book," Vol. HI, p. 704. 

General Joseph S. Fallerton of the Army of the Cmii- 
berland in this battle, in his article on the subject (" War 
Book," Vol. Ill, p. 719), gives a description and an engrav- 
ing of the carrying of Lookout mountain, which is most 
interesting, as well as instructive, as to the how it came to 
be stormed to the very summit, without orders and even 
contrary to orders. General Grant's order was " to move 
forward and take the rifle-pits at the foot of the ridge," 
though in Sheridan's division the order read : " As soon as 
the signal is given, the whole line will advance, and you 
will take what is before you." They struggled up the 
steep ascent, and scattered over the slightly wooded and 
broad mountain side leading up to the palisade at the top, 
to find the ground furrowed by ravines, and more or less 
obstructed by felled trees. At the signal, 20,000 men 
rushed forward, moving in line of battle by brigades, with 
a double line of skirmishers in front, closely followed by 
the reserves in mass. They were met by heavy siege guns 
from above, as well as by the lighter artillery and musketry 
in the valley, but neither fell back nor halted. 

The ground was so broken that it was impossible to keep a regular 
line of battle. The men, fighting and climbing up the steep ascent, 
sought the roads, i-avines and less rugged parts. At times tlieir 
movements were in shape like the flight of migrating birds, si-ino- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 317 

times in line, sometimes in mass, mostly in V-shaped groups, with 
points toward the enemy. At these points regimental flags were 
flying, sometimes drooping as the bearers were shot, but never reach- 
ing the ground, for other brave hands were there to seize them. 
Sixty flags were advancing up the hill. Bragg was hurrying large 
bodies of men from his right to the center. They could be seen 
hastening along the ridge. Though exposed to a teriific fire, they 
neither fell back nor halted. By a bold and desperate push they 
broke through the works in several places, and opened flank and 
reverse fires. The enemy was thrown into confusion, and took pre- 
cipitate flight up the ridge. Many prisoners and a large number of 
small arms were captured. The order of the commanding general 
had now been fully and most successfully carried out. But it did not 
go far enough to satisfy these brave men, who thought the time had 
come to finish the battle of Chickamauga. There was a halt of but a 
few minutes to take breath, and to reform lines; then, without 
orders, all started up the ridge, oificers catching their spirit, first 
followed, then led. There was no thought of supports, or of protecting 
flanks, though the enemy's line could be seen stretching on either side. 

Here is pleasantly revealed by a little incident the spirit 
of a commander, and of his officers and men, but for 
which literal disobedience to a military order, though justi- 
fied by the result, might have been made a serious ofifense. 
General Fullerton goes on to say : — 

As soon as tliis movement was seen from Orchard Knob, Grant 
quickh^ turned to Thomas, who stood by his side, and I heard him 
say angrily: "Ihomas, who ordered those men up the ridge?" 
Thomas replied in his usual slow, quiet manner: "I don't know, I 
did not." Then addressing General Gordon Granger, he said: " Did 
you order them up. Granger?'" "No," said Granger, '' they started 
up without orders. When those fellows get started you can't stop 
them." General Grant said something to the effect that somebody 
would suffer for it if it did not turn out well, and then turning 
stoically, watched the ridge, and gave no further orders. I remember, 
too, that shortlj' after the battle was over, General Granger rode along 
our lines and said in a joking m ay to the troops. " I am going to have 
you all court-martialed; you were ordered to take the works at the 
foot of the hill; you have taken those on top! You have disobeyed 
orders, all of you, md you know that you ought to be court-martialed ! ' 

So on the 25th of November, 1863, after two days of 
most skillful lighting, and not with such fearful slaughter 



318 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

as in several other battles,* the field was won, General 
Bragg and his army in full retreat, the siege of Chatta- 
nooga raised, and all that valley and virtually those South- 
western States had passed out from under the control of 
the Confederacy. This victory was followed by a move- 
ment to relieve Burnside at Knoxville. Sherman led it, 
but Longstreet did not wait for his arrival and abandoned 
the siege before his arrival. General Grant sums up the 
situation in these words : " Knoxville was now relieved, 
the anxiety of the President was removed, and the loyal 
portion of the North rejoiced over the double victory, the 
raising of the siege of Knoxville and the victory at Chatta- 
nooga." It is in his account of this campaign that he 
declares : " There was no time during the rebellion that I 
did not think and often say, that the South was more to be 
benefited by defeat than the North." 

The annual Thanksgiving, observed in New England and 
spreading among the Northern States, was observed this 
autumn more extensively and with new significance. It 
was appointed by the proclamation of the several governors, 
and generally observed the last of November. This year it 
came on the 26th, the day after the Chattanooga victory. 
It came too soon to have the completeness of that vic- 
tory known, but the prospect of it, following so soon Gettys- 
burg and Vicksburg, giving so much more hopeful an aspect 
to the Union cause, caused the day to be more gen- 
erally observed and with a deeper significance than ever. 
The President had issued for the first time a proclama- 



* The battle of Chickamauga, which was only a month earlier, and in which Rose- 
crans was in command, and badly defeated and then shut up in Chattanooga, is an 
illustration of this kind. Our army is estimated to have been 56,965 strong, and the 
Confederate, 71,551. And in that four-days' fighting, we lost 16,000, while the 
enemy lost 17,000. In this battle at Chattanooga, our loss was 5,815 out of a force 
of 60,000, which was probably greater than that of Bragg's, as we were the attack- 
ing party, while the Confederate loss is estimated at 6,687 out of somewhat near 
the same force, though not likely to have been so great.— [" War Book," Vol. III. 
pp 670-673. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 319 

tion,* recommending its universal adoption, to be followed by 
the several governors endorsing the same, and it was charac- 
terized by so much of Mr. Lincoln's reasonableness, and 
reverence, and dependence upon the divine favor for the suc- 
cess of our cause, that it was met with a more general and 
deeper response than was ever known before. Indeed, we 
had reached that point in the history of the war, when 
under its rigid discipline, its repeated rebukes of our self- 
confidence, and self-righteousness and vain reliance upon 
statesmen, generals and editors, we were glad of divine 
aid, and were not ashamed to pray for it or to give public 
and loud thanks when it came. We thought of our sins, 
and especially of that great crime against God and man, 
which had been too long tolerated, and which had now 
lifted its parricidal hand against the most parental govern- 
ment the world had ever seen. It seemed as if for these 
three years God's hand had been holding the whole land, 
North and South, as by a thread of tow over the very fires 
of perdition. And who would not think of his sins, and 
cry for forgiveness as well as for deliverance ? 

Those of us who can remember our Sunday services 
during the war, can recall the effect produced by such a 
state of things. The telegraph reached every important 
town and many of the villages, and we went to church as 
liable to hear of some sad defeat as of an important victory, 
and if not of such wholesale joy or sorrow, to learn that 



* After our victory at Gf€ttysburg, President Lincoln called upon the people to 
assemble in their churches and bless God for. his interposition and mercy. So also 
after the news came of Vicksburg's fall, he summoned them again to observe a day 
of national thanksgiving, praise and prayer, and " render the homage due to the 
Divine Majesty for the wonderful things he has done in the nation's behalf ; " and 
still again when Chattanooga was relieved and the Confederate forces driven out 
of Tennessee, he called upon the people to come together in their Christian assem- 
blies and "render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God for his great 
advancement of the national cause." But it was especially in that proclamation for 
the usual Thanksgiving that his humility and reverence toward God, and spirit of 
tender pity toward all who were suffering by the war, however misguided they may 
have been, that the religious character into which he had been growing was most 
distinctly showing itself. 



320 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

some family had lost a father, son or brother, and that the 
remains were on the way home for burial. And when they 
came, with what tender religious services, and universal 
and deepest sympathy, we laid our boy to his rest among 
his kindred and neighbors. We remember as one feature of 
those services — never known before and almost forgotten 
now — the use we made of the old " Battle Song of the 
Reformation." It seemed written for the times, and 
especially when the minister read the second verse as it 
was originally written : — 

" Fear not! be stronc;! your cause belongs 
To Him who can avenge your wrongs; 

Le;tve all to bim, your Lord; 
Thouuli hidden yet from mortal eyes, 
He knows the Gideon that shall rise, 
And save us from our enemies," 

instead of that vaguer and less suggestive version of it, 
found in our hymn books.* The justness of this criticism 



* The hymn as usually printed runs thus, and is found in Lowell Mason's - Snh- 
bath Tune Book " and sung to the tune of "Ganeres " :- - 

•' Fear not, O little flock, the foe 
Who madly seeks your overthrow : 

Dread not his rage and power ; 
What though your courage sometimes faints, 
Thi- seeming triumph o'er God's saints 
Lasts but a little hour. 

" Feai- not ! be strong ! your cause belongs 
To Him who can avenge your wrongs : 

Leave all to him, your Lord ! 
Though hidden yet from mortal eyes. 
Salvation shall for you arise 
He- girdeth on his sword ! 

" As sure as God's own promise stands. 
Not earth, nor hell, with all their hands. 

Against you shall prevail : 
The Lord shall mock them from his throne ; 
God is with us, we are his own : 
Our viit'ry cannot tail ! 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 321 

will be seen, when it is remembered how long the Army of 
the Potomac was in finding its proper commander. Sure 
we are that the infiueuce of the war upon the people at 
home, and the community at large, was a distinctively 
religious one. It not only summoned the people to a great 
duty, and called them to make sacrifices never required 
before, and by motives the most momentous, and many of 
them the most religious, and gave them a depth and breadth 
of sympathy with all classes who shared in the hardships 
and sufferings of the war ; but it brought to view, as never 
before, the God of heaven as the God of nations, who had 
given them their location on the earth and their place in 
history, and holding them responsible as communities for 
their wrong doings, and redress of wrongs, and ready to 
make them either the guides or the warnings of history. 
So that under such discipline, it was not strange, before the 
war was over, the crowds that gathered in Wall street to 
hear the announcements from the front of some victory, 
could only find expression for their joy in singing the Dox- 
ology of the sanctuary, ''Praise God from whom all bless- 
ings flow." 

In this connection we may well call to mind the spirit of 
Mr. Lincoln, whose otficial documents, and public and pri- 
vate utterances, while they showed no pretentious piety, 
nor made appeals for effect to the Christian sentiment of 
the people, were eminently reverential and devout, recog- 
nizing the dependence of the nation for success in their 
struggle, upon our righting the wrongs — now that we had 
the opportunity — of those whom we had held for genera- 
tions in slavery; his kindly feeling toward those whom war 
had made enemies, and his incessant endeavor to save them 

Amen : Lord Jesus, grant our prayer : 
Great captaui : now thine ai-m make bare. 

Thy church with strength defend ; 
.So shall all saints and martjTs raise 
A joyful chorus to thy praise. 

Through ages without end 1 ' 



322 WILLTAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

from all unnecessary loss and sorrow; his almost super- 
human patience with those who misrepresented and vilified 
and hated him; and the spirit in which he went calmly 
forward from the first, toward threatened assassination, and 
to final martyrdom. 

But it is in the President's personal and deepest experi- 
ences, that we find most reason to respect and sympathize 
with his piety. " I have been driven many times to my 
knees," he said to a friend, " by the overwhelming convic- 
tion that I had nowhere else to go." And to another he 
said : " I should be the most presumptuous blockhead 
upon this footstool, if I for one day thought that I could 
discharge the duties which have come upon me since I 
came into this i)lace, without the aid and enlightenment of 
One who is wiser and stronger than all others." " If it 
were not for my firm belief in an over-ruling Providence," 
he said, in reply to a clergyman who referred to the encour- 
a,gement we have to trust in the good Providence of God, 
*' it would be difficult for me, in the midst of such compli- 
cations of affairs, to keep my reason on its seat. But I am 
confident that the Almighty has his plans, and will work 
them out, and whether we see it or not, they will be the 
wisest and the best for us. I have always taken counsel of 
him, and referred to him in my plans, and have never 
adopted a course of proceeding without being assured, as 
far as 1 could be, of his approbation. To be sure he has 
not conformed to my desires, or else we should have been 
out of our trouble long ago. On the other hand, his will 
docs not seem to agree with our enemy over there (point- 
ing across the Potomac). He stands as a judge between us, 
and we ought to be willing to accept his decisions. We 
have reason to anticipate that it will be favorable to us, for 
our cause is right." It was, however, in his family anxieties 
and bereavement, that his faith and submission were most 
severely tested. When he lost one of his boys by death, 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 323 

and the other and youngest, who was called "Tad," seemed 
likely to follow, he sobbed: "This is the hardest trial of 
my life! Why is it? Why is it?" And when told that 
many were praying for him, he replied: "I am glad to 
hear that. I want them to pray for me. I need their 
prayers. I will try to go to God with my sorrows." It 
was about this time that he made a notable reply to a lady, 
who was begging him to let certain sick soldiers in the hos- 
pital be sent North for more speedy recovery, and who said : 
"They have been faithful to the government; they have 
been faithful to you ; they will still be loyal to the govern- 
ment, do what you will with them. But if you will grant 
my petition, you will be glad as long as you live." He 
bowed his head and with a look of sadness which it is im- 
possible for language to describe, said : " / shall never be 
glad any moreP Indeed, before this time the impression 
had been fastening itself upon him, that he could hardly 
survive the war. " I feel a presentiment," he said to a mem- 
ber of Congress (a presentiment which was no secret among 
his friends), " that 1 shall not outlast the rebellion. When 
it is over, my work will be done " 

It was in the autumn of this year that the Gettysburg 
cemetery was dedicated. The State of Pennsylvania, upon 
whose soil the battle had been fought, and many of whose 
sons had taken part in the struggle, had bought a large 
portion of the battlefield, for the resting place of the fallen 
and for monuments to the famous deeds done there, and 
this field was to be consecrated to this purpose with appro- 
priate ceremonies. Edward Everett, the distinguished 
patriot and orator of Massachusetts, was naturally selected 
to deliver the principal address. And it is needless to say 
that it was worthy of the occasion, and, but for what fol- 
lowed, it would have been the striking feature of those ser- 
vices. The President, however, from whom little else 
seems to have been expected than to be present and repre- 



324 WILLIAM A. lUirKlNGHAM. 

isoiit tho jrovornnu'Ht in (hat ocroinonv, was slirrcHl, as the 
oxorcisos went, on, by thouijhts and sontinionts of his own, 
to which he i»avo oxprossion in that brief and never-to-be- 
ioi'ijottiMi address of his, which will be as memorable in 
histo!"}' as that battle, and a summons to all mankind to 
maintain the only free ijovernment which had lasted a cen- 
tury, and to which this jteople were to reconsecrate them- 
selves in every such blaody baptisuL They are familiar 
words now. but it is littinii to set tluuu tlowu once more 
here : — 

Kourscoio and sovon yoars a.<;o our tatlieis luoufjlu forth ui>ou 
this oontinont ;i now nation, ooncoivod in liberty, and dedicated to 
tlie proposition that all n\en are created equal. Now we are eujxa^ed 
in a jjreat oivil war, testinsj; what that nation, or any other so con- 
ceived or so dedicated, can lonp; endure. We are met on a ijrcat 
battletiehl of that war. We have conu> to dedicate a ]>ortion of that 
held as a tin;il rosting place for tiiose who here j>ave their lives that 
that nation miiiht live. It is altojicthor littinjjand proper that we 
bhould do this. But in a larsjor sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot 
consecrate, we cannot hallow this sjround. Tlie brave men, livini^and 
dead, who stru^irled here, have consecrated it far above our power to 
adil or detract. The world will little nott-. nor lonji remeiuber, what 
we say here, but it can never fi>rijet what they did here. It is for us, 
the livinj;, rather to be dedicated here to the untinished work which 
they who fouj^ht here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather 
for us to be here tledicated to the jyreat task ren\ainin<; before us, that 
from these honored dead we here take increased ilevotion to tliat 
cause for which they nave the last full measure of devotion; that we 
here hisjhly resolve that these dead shall not have (lied in v;un; that 
this iiaf'ou, under (Jod. shall have a new birth of freedom, and that 
the };ovcrn;neiu of the people, by the people, aud lor the people, shall 
not perish iiom the earth. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

General Grant at thk IIkai* oi' tiik Aumiks. 

The Chan<;c in MothodK When the Atniy '':iJiio Unch^r His ('orn- 
iiiand — Tlie SerieH of Flank MoveincnU on Kiclirnond — Tlie Only 
Battle Grant "Would Not Fif^hL Again" — A I'auKc^ After the 
Terrible Losses on Kaeli Side. 

Aliliou<;li the victories at Vicksburj^, Gettysbur-f^ and 
Glial tanooga, in the summer and autumn of 18f)'5, made a 
turning point in iho war, they had fearfully de|)let(;d the 
armies on each side, and it was not until the spring of 1864 
that they were ready for more great operations. It was 
now a question of determination and resources. The South 
was resolute enough, but her money was exhausted, her 
credit gone, her ports so closely blockaded that she could 
not get cotton out or supplies in. The conscription had 
been so rigid that she had nearly exhausted the available 
material. She had one advantage, in that tlie service 
being for the war, most of her men were already veterans. 
The resources of the North, on the olher hand, were ample 
in both men and money. And by this time all peace 
measures and possible compromises were pretty much 
abandoned. Even New York, under Governoi- Seymour 
who had so earnestly counseled peace measures and almost 
resisted the government draft for more troop.s, when she 
found Pennsylvania invaded and her (jwn territory threat- 
ened, was swept over by a tide of pat'-ir)tisui that carried an 
army of its own to the front, and which no governor could 
resist. Meanwhile the other Northern govei'nois were 
redeeming their pledges to the Piesident, and he was 



326 WILLIAM A BUCKINGHAM 

making call after call during the year, amounting to 
1,500,000 of men for the army and the navy ; though for 
credits given and allowances made the number was reduced 
to 900,000.* During those nine months, from July, 1863, to 
May, 1864, this force was recruited, equipped and put into 
the field. Many of those who had been in service for six 
and nine months and for three years, re-enlisted for the 
war, as most of the Connecticut troops did, thus furnishing 
the government at once so many veteran troops, and put- 
ting our armies in this respect more nearly on a footing 
with the Confederate forces. When the spring opened, 
sufficient troops were poured into the valley of the Potomac 
from New England, and into the valley of the Mississippi 
from the West, to finish up the war within another year. 

Our Army of the Potomac had also found at last its com- 
mander. When General Grant had accomplished his great 
work in the West, he was summoned to Washington, where 
Congress had revived the grade of Lieutenant General of 
our armies, hitherto accorded to George Washington alone, 
General Scott having been such only by brevet, and the 
President offered him that position, with the understapding 
that he should personally take command of the Potomac 
army and have the direction of all the military movements of 
the government. His commission was dated March 9. 1^64. 

It is worth noting that the " Personal Memoirs " of 
General Grant give us the most intelligible and certainly 
the most candid account of the manner in which the war 
had hitherto been conducted, and propose the plans upon 
which he would have it prosecuted for the future. H(; puts 
us into the most confidential communication with the 



♦ The number of men called for durins the year may be thus recapitulated :- 

Callof February 1, 500,000 

Call of March 14, ....... 5>00,000 

Call of July 18, MiO.OOO 

Call of December 20, :i(iO,000 

1,500 000 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 327 

President, and the War Department, and the prominent 
C(jmmanders of the army, so that it is easy to see reasons 
for the failure, or the incomplete results, of some of our 
most important military expeditions. And he shows his 
own modesty, deference to the government authorities, 
courtesy and kind judgment toward other commanders, 
and anxiety to have those who had been relieved of their 
commands, rest( red to service somewhere, while he frankly 
gives his opinion of their fitness or unfitness for any par- 
ticular service. The plan of General Grant's campaign, 
and whatever there was that was new and peculiar in it, 
are fully given in these memoirs and in his correspondence 
with the government. " The Union armies," he says, " were 
now divided into nineteen departments, though four of them 
in the West had been concentrated into a single military 
division. The Army of the Potomac was a separate com- 
mand and had no territorial limits. There were thus 
seventeen distinct commands. Before this time these 
various armies had acted separately and independently of 
each other, giving the enemy an opportunity often of 
depleting one command not pressed to re-enforce another 
more actively engaged. I determined to stop it." 

His criticism upon the past conduct of the war, as he 
writes to the War Department, was that " the armies of the 
East and West acted independently and without concert, 
like a balky team, no two pulling together, enabling the 
enemy to use to great advantage the interior lines of com- 
mun'cation for transporting troops from east to west, 
re-enforcing the army most vigorously pressed, and to 
furlough large numbers during seasons of inactivity on our 
part, to go to their homes and producing for the support of 
their armies." This is what he proposed to put a stop to, 
by making one army of the whole, and all its movements 
co-operate for the relief and assistance of the rest. Then 
the fighting was to be made more constant and vigorous, 



328 WILLIAM A, BUCKINGHAM. 

and less account made of losses, trusting in the superior 
resources of the North in men and means to finally exhaust 
the South and leave her powerless, as was successfully done. 
From an early period in the rebellion General Grant 
writes to the government : — 

I liad been impressed with the idea that active and continuous 
operations of all the troops that could be brought into the field, re- 
gardless of season and weather, were necessary to a speedy termina- 
tion of the war. From the first, I was firm in the conviction that no 
peace could be had that was stable, and conducive to the happiness of 
the people, both North and South, until the military power of the 
rebellion was entirely broken. I therefore determined, first, to use 
the greatest number of troops practicable against the armed force of 
the enemy, preventing him from using the same force at different 
seasons against first one and then another of our armies, and the 
possibility of repose for refitting and producing necessary supplies for 
carrying on resistance; second, to hammer continuously against the 
armed force of the enemy and his resources, until by mere attritujn, if 
in no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal sub- 
mission, with the loyal section of our common country, to the consti- 
tution and laws of the land. These views have been kept constantly 
in mind, and orders given, and campaigns made, to carry them out. 

With reference to the criticisms made upon his cam- 
paigns, as needlessly wasteful of human life, his defense is : 
" Whether these campaigns might have been better in con- 
ception and execution, is for the people, who mourn the 
loss of friends fallen, and who have to pay the pecuniary 
cost, to say. All 1 can say is, that what T have done has 
been done conscientiously, to the best of my ability, and 
in what I conceived to be for the best interests of the whole 
country." 

According to this new plan of the war, all our Union 
armies were organized as one army, with General Grant as 
its commander-in-chief, and his headquarters wherever he 
might be, whether at Culpepper courthouse at first, or " in 
the saddle," where he was more generally to be found after- 
wards. The two chief armies of the Confederacy — the one 
under Lee on the Rapidan licfore Richmond, and the other 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 329 

under Johnston at Dalton, Ga., and defending Atlanta — 
were to be the objective points of the campaign. General 
Meade, the commander of the Army of the Potomac under 
Grant, was instructed : " Lee's army will be our objective 
point, and wherever Lee goes, there you will go also," and 
to this army the commander-in-chief was to be attached 
personally. To Sherman he sent orders : " You I propose 
to move against Johnston's army, to break it up and to 
get into the interior of the enemy's country as far as you 
can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war 
resources." 

The month of May had come, and General Grant had 
diligently improved the six weeks since he received his 
appointment, in perfecting his plans, selecting his com- 
manders, and rearranging the location and number of his 
troops over the vast field of his military command. This 
field for active operations extended from Washington to 
New Orleans, from the islands around Charleston to the 
bayous of Louisiana, and the flooded lands of the Red 
River country. The plan included co-operation with the 
fleets on the James river, in Mobile bay, and in the capture 
of Fort Fisher. At many of these points large forces had 
to be kept permanently to hold possession of territory 
already acquired, and to retain these large Confederate 
forces, which would otherwise be swelling Lee's or John- 
ston's army. One of these — General Lee's — was protecting 
the (/onfederate capital, just as our Army of the Potomac 
was defending Washington, while the other — General John- 
ston's — was to withstand Sherman's " march to the sea," 
and his desolation of the Southern States, which had so 
much to do with the termination of the war. And to the 
support of these two armies, the chief energy and resouices 
of the Confederacy had to be directed. These able gen- 
erals, and veteran armies, and especially the former with 
its almost impenetrable position among the forests, ravines, 



330 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

and tangled thickets of the Wilderness, might well have 
made any other less resolute general hesitate before he 
launched his own army, superior as it was in numbers and 
appointments, against such an impregnable and well- 
defended fortress. And whether this was the wisest, or 
the only course to put down the rebellion, it may be said, 
and perhaps this ought to satisfy us, that it accomplished 
its purpose, and after three years of fierce and indecisive' 
fighting, the war was ended in a single year after Grant 
was placed in command. 

The Union army at this time was made up, in preparation 
of its advance movement, of Butler's army at Fortress 
Monroe for its left, Meade's army the center, and Sherman's 
its right at Chattanooga. Though they were hundreds of 
miles apart, they were to advance together and work for 
the same end- The Army of the Potomac and the Army 
of Northern Virginia, which were to come first into con- 
flict and fight the fiercest battles of the war, if not of the 
world, were both of them superb armies in their numbers, 
commanders, material and appointments. The former num- 
bered 114,000 enlisted men, and included such commanders 
as Meade, Burnside, Hancock, Warren, Sedgwick, and 
Sheridan with his 12,000 cavalry, and 224 guns. Lee's 
total strength was only 60,000 and 224 guns. Though 
thus inferior in numbers and armament, he still had the 
advantage of his strong and fortified positions all the way 
back to Richmond. He had also more veteran troops, as 
well as many of his oldest and ablest commanders — Long- 
street, Early, A. P. Hill, and Stuart with his 8,000 cavalry, 
though he had already lost " Stonewall " Jackson. 

As to the plan of the campaign. General Sherman says : 
" Regarding ourselves all as one army and co-operating in 
the same work, Butler was to move from Fortress Monroe 
against Richmond on the south of the James river ; Meade 
straiiiht against Lee entrenched behind the Rai)idan ; and 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 331 

I was to attack Joe Johnston, and push him to and beyond 
Atlanta. This," he adds, " was as far as human foresight 
could penetrate." Accordingly on the 4th of May, 1864, 
our army crossed the Rapidan and began that all-imDortant 
and fearful campaign of the Wilderness. " The Wilderness 
is a considerable tract of broken table-land, stretching 
southward from the Rapidan nearly to Spottsylvania court- 
house, seamed with ravines and densely covered with 
dwarfish timber and bushes, crossed by three or four good 
roads, and by a multiplicity of narrow cart tracks, used in 
peace only by woodcutters. In this tangled labyrinth, 
numbers, artillery, and cavalry, are of small account ; local 
knowledge, advantage of position, and command of roads, 
everything. It was Grant's object to get through this 
chaparral as quickly and with as little fighting as possible. 
It was Lee's business not to let him." Lee, with his knowl- 
edge of the country and a shorter line, got there before 
him, and Grant had to take things as they were and fight 
him where he found him. He was well posted and in full 
force, and before our troops were in position, or supposed 
that they had any considerable force of the enemy to 
encounter, they were engaged in some of the heaviest and 
bloodiest fighting of the war. The first day there was not 
much done, except to get into position on both sides, and 
to bring up from every quarter their great army corps and 
begin the struggle. But on the second day they were 
well engaged in it, and on the third, from early dawn till 
quite into the night, it was almost a hand-to-hand " bush 
fight," such as was never seen before, and no other conti- 
nent could have furnished such a field for. Some of the 
ground between the two armies had been fought over four 
or five times. The weather was intensely hot and dry, 
and the forest in places had caught fire, and was consuming 
the wounded with the dead, until there was an amount of 
human suffering gathered there such as probably nn otlioi- 



832 • \V1LLIAI\I A. KUCKINGHAM. 

battlefield ever gaw. Not much less than 20,000 had fallen 
on the Union side in that three-days' fighting, and half as 
mnn3% at least, of the Confederates.* 

The next day Connecticut lost there one of her noble 
sons, and the service one of its most valuable commanders, 
General John Sedgwick, a thorough soldier, and greatly 
beloved for his personal qualities, of illustrious lineage 
through a Revolutionary ancestry, and Cromwell's Iron- 
sides ; thoroughly educated for military service and steadily 
promoted by the government until he attained his present 
rank. He was in the thickest of the fight at Antietam, and 
assigned at the head of the famous Sixth Corps, to storm 
and hold the heights of Fredericksburg; and twice offered 
the command of the Army of the Potomac, which was as 
often declined. He fell as he was reconnoitering the enemy 
preparatory to the advance of his column, m the last of that 
Wilderness fighting. The affection felt for him in his 
native State, and the honor shown him by the Governor 
and officials, as they buried him tenderly at Cornwall Hol- 
low, his country home, has been referred to elsewhere. 

General Alexander S. Webb, chief of staff of General 
Meade, in his article in the " War Book," " Through the 
Wilderness," furnishes in detail and with trustworthy 
exactness, the following particulars of the Army ot the Po- 
tomac, of which General Meade was in command : — 



* (See "War Book." Vol. IV, p. d48.) Our loss in officers was heavy. The coun- 
try's salvation oluiint-d im nobler saoritife than that of General James S. Wads- 
worth of New Yt>rk. Born to jiffluence and social distinction, already past the ago 
of military service, he had volunteered in 1861, under a sense of duty alone. As an 
aid of (ieneral McDowell, he was conspicuously useful at Bull Run. Accustomed 
to every luxury, he had courti'd ever since the hardships and perils of the field. 
Made the Republican candidate for governor in 1802 by an overwhehnin;; majority, 
he could not have failed to be elected (;ould those have voted who like himself 
were absent from the State at the call of their country, and thoug-h he peremp- 
torily declined, his fellow-citizens, had he lived, would have insisted on electinjEr 
him sovernor in 1864. Thousands of the unnamed have evinced as fervid and pure 
a patriotism, but no ojie surrendered more for his country's .sake, or frave his life 
more joyfully for her deliverance than did James S. Wadsworth. — \ Greeley's 
•' Ameiican Conflict," Vol. II. /). .'i'li. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 333 

General Meade had with him, according to his report of April 30, 
just as that campaign began, 95,952 enlisted men, 3,486 officers and 
274 guns. Hancock's corps, 26,67(> men; Warren's, 24,125 men; Sedg- 
wick's, 22,584 men, while Sheridan controlled 12,525 in the cavalry. To 
guard all these trains, there was a special detail of 1,200; General 
Grant had also attached the Nintli Corps (General Burnside's) to the 
army as an independent command, operating under his eye. Tiie 
total force under General Grant, including Burnside, was 4,409 officers 
and 114,360 enlisted men; for the artillery, he had 9,945 enlisted men 
and 285 officers; in the cavalry, 11,839 enlisted men and 585 officers; 
in the provost guards and engineers, 120 officers and 3,274 enlisted 
men. This 118,000 men, properly disposed fur battle, would have 
covered a front of twenty-one miles, two ranks deep, with one-third of 
them held in reserve; while Lee, with his 62,000, similarly disposed 
for battle, would cover only twelve miles. Grant had a train which, 
he states in his " Memoirs," would have reached from the Eapidau 
to Richmond, or sixty-five miles. — [•' War Book,'^ Vol. IV, p. 152. 

Then began that series of flank movements which Gen- 
eral Grant had deliberately adopted and persistently adhered 
to, and which has been so severely criticised, though it finally 
ended the war. He gives his reason for it in this case, and 
had the same reason for continuing it, until he had reached 
the other side of Richmond and Petersburg, and could invest 
them both by a regular siege, until their re-enforcements 
and supplies were cut off and both were compelled to sur- 
render. ■' On the morning of the 7th," he says in his 
report to the government, '' reconnoisances showed that the 
enemy had fallen behind his entrenched lines, with pickets 
to the front covering a part of the battlefield. From this it 
was evident to my mind that the two-days' fighting had 
satisfied him of his inability to further maintain the con- 
test in the open field, notwithstanding his advantage of 
position, and that he would await an attack behind his 
works. I therefore determined to push on and put my 
whole force between him and Richmond, and orders were 
at once issued for a movement by the ' right flank.' " This 
refers to his frequent and favorite mode of getting around 
an enemy when he could not sweej) him from his path, to 



334 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

outflank him, to move around the extremity of his cohimn 
or position and sweep his lines, or attack him in the rear. 
In this case he had been unsuccessful in it, and so he was 
at Spottsylvania, at North Anna, fearfully so at Cold Harbor, 
and only successful when it brought him south of James 
river, and finally cut off the Confederate capital from its 
re-enforcements and supplies, and brought that four-years' 
war to a close. 

The march was commenced toward Spottsylvania court- 
house. But the enemy having been apprised of the move- 
ment, and having the shorter line, was enabled to reach 
there first. A few days were spent by both armies in ma- 
neuvering for positions, when General Hancock, on the 12th, 
made his famous assault upon a salient of the enemy's 
works (which now goes by the name, among all who par- 
ticipated in it, of the " Bloody Angle.") That must always 
be regarded as phenomenal in military courage, discipline 
and leadership, on both sides. The position was carried 
and was held at a fearful sacrifice, through five assaults by 
Lee in quick succession. It was too exposed to be retained 
and was then abandoned. The Union losses up to this 
time were 39,000, about half of them in the Wilderness. 
Heavy rains set in and made the roads so heavy that opera- 
tions were suspended for a week. Then a third flank move- 
ment was made to the south side of the North Anna. The 
river was carried successfully and Lee invested. He had a 
strong position, and after three days the Union forces with- 
drew without risking an assault, recrossed the river and 
proceeded to make the fourth flank movement, the objec- 
tive point of which was Cold Harbor on the north bank of 
the Chickahominy. Cold Harbor is a name associated with 
more that is sanguinary and sad than any other battlefield 
of this campaign. It is in the immediate vicinity of Gaines' 
Mill, where McClellan was compelled two years before to 
begin his retreat a( ross the swamps of the Chickahominy. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 335 

The attack began at 4.30, on the morning of June 3. The 
Union advance was through wooded country and under a 
terrible fire from the enemy. It is said that in the first 
eight minutes, more men fell than in any other like period 
during the war. Of this battle. General Grant says, as 
quoted in Young's " Around the World with General Grant:" 
"Cold Harbor is, I think, the only battle I ever fought that 
I would not fight again under the same circumstances." 
In his official report General Grant speaks of this as the 
only general attack made from the Rapidan to the James 
which did not inflict upon the enemy losses to compensate 
for our losses. 

The filth flank movement established the Army of the 
Potomac across the James river, opposite Petersburg, and 
within twenty miles of the Confederate capital, where it was 
to remain and carry on its operations to better advantage 
until the Confederacy fell. The movement was accom- 
plished by successive extensions of the different corps 
towards the left, and was so well disguised by cavalry feints 
and dashes, that the whole army was on the south side of 
the river before Lee discovered the purpose of the move- 
ments that had been made. Lee fell back to Bichmond, 
and the contest resolved itself into a siege of that city. The 
Union losses from May 5 to June 13 were 7,289 killed, 
37,406 wounded and 856 missing. Lee's losses were about 
32,000. 

In these operations, particularly in the last and fatal assaults at 
Cold Harbor, the Connecticut troops had a highly honorable and 
peculiarly sad share. General Robert O. Tyler, who as colonel of the 
First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, had almost created that branch of 
the service iu our war, and proved its efficiency at Malvern Hill and 
Gettysburg, was here in command of the reserve artillery. The 
Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery, under Colonel Elisha S. Kellogg, 
had just joined him with a new regiment 1,800 strong, and this was to 
be their baptism of blood. "The plan of the battle was simple and 
similar to that of Spottsylvania, a general assault with the bayonet 
along the front of six miles, to be made in column by division, at 



B36 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

lialf-past four uexl morning. All caps were removed from the 
muskets. It was not later than forty-five minutes past four when the 
whole line was in motion, and the dark hollows between the armies 
were lighted up with the fires of death. It took hardly more than ten 
minutes of the figment men call time to decide the battle. There 
was along the whole line a rush, the spectacle of impregnable works, 
a bloody loss, then a sudden falling back, and the action was decided. 
In this charge Brigadier General R. O. Tyler, while gallantly leading 
his command, was severely wounded in the leg and carried off the 
field. Three of his regimental commanders were killed," Among 
these was Colonel Kellogg. He had led infantry, and this was an 
infantry regiment, just drilled as artillerists, and they were now to 
act as infantry, and depend upon their muskets and not their cannon. 
Afraid lest they should mistake their duties, or lose courage in this 
tlieir first battle under their new organization, he took personal care 
of them, ''marked out on the ground the shape of the works to be 
taken, told the officers what disposition to make of the different bat- 
talions and how the charge should be made." Then putting himself 
at their head, and cheering them on, his stately form a conspicuous 
target for the enemy's fire, he fell in the very beginning of the fight, 
pierced with several bullets through his head. As one describes the 
scene just after the battle: "I remember'at one point a mute and 
pathetic coincidence of sterling valor. The Second Connecticut Heavy 
Artillery, a new regiment, had joined us but a few days before the 
battle. Its uniform was bright and fresh, therefore its dead were 
easily distinguished wliere they lay. They marked in a dotted line 
an obtuse angle, covering a wide front, with its apex toward the 
enemy, and there upon his face, still in death, with his head to the 
works, lay the Colonel, the brave and genial Colonel Elisha S. Kel- 
logg." The State gave him fit burial, and " when his mortal remains 
. were laid in the pleasant valley at Winsted, a thousand hearts turned 
tenderly toward his grave." The losses of this single regiment in 
tliat single assault were 75 killed and 184 wounded, — more in killed and 
wounded than those of any other regiment from this State in any 
battle. — {^"Connecticid in the War,^' p. i)92. 

The .State was pretty largely represented in this movement 
and suffered accordingly. Colonel Stedman, who was imme- 
diately ])romoted for his services there, and who soon after 
fell himself in trying to retrieve the bad management when 
the mine was exploded before Petersburg, was in command 
of a brigade in that Cold Harbor assault, which contained 
several Connecticut regiments, and which did themselves 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 337 

credit, as well as suffered heavy loss. " We left the woods," 
says their commander, " with 2,000 men ; in five minutes we 
returned, bOO less." He was a cultured and knightly sol- 
dier, who entered the army at the beginning of the war ; took 
part in the battle of Antietam, leading half his regiment in 
the charge on the stone bridge, and receiving a severe wound. 
He commanded his regiment at Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
ville and Gettysburg, and at the beginning of the overland 
campaign of General Grant, was placed at the head of a 
brigade. His grave at Hartford, where he was born, is 
marked by a monument of granite and bronze, and fitly 
represents the high estimation in which he was held. 

" Here ended, practically, for the year 1864, Grant's deter- 
mined, persistent, sanguinary campaign against Lee's army 
and Richmond. And while other campaigns were more 
brilliant, none contributed more positively and eminently to 
break the power of the Confederacy than that which began 
on the Rapidan and ended in front of Petersburg and across 
the Weldon road." For the next nine months. General 
Grant is to retain that position, and operate from that 
point to cut off the resources of the enemy, and prevent 
the army in front of him from sending many re-enforce- 
ments elsewhere, while Sheridan in the Shenandoah cleans 
that valley of Confederate invaders and supplies for their 
armies,* and Sherman pushes his way down through Ten- 



* After General Lee was driven into Richmond, he sent General Jubal A. Early, 
one of his able commanders, into the Shenandoah valley— the grainery of the Con- 
federacy, and the avenue through which the Northern States were to be invaded — 
where he found General Hunter far from his base and with inadequate supplies of 
food and ammunition, and drove him out of the valley. " General Grant therefore 
cast about," says General Sherman, "for a suitable commander for this field of 
operations, and settled upon Major General Philip H. Sheridan, whom he had 
brought from the West to command the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac.'* 
He left for his new field of operations in August, and continued them there until he 
had beaten his antagonist in fair and open battle, sending him, as he expressed it, 
■'whirling up the valley." General Early reorganized his army, and fell upon the 
Union forces in October at Cedar t'reek and thoroughly defeated ihem, while 
Sheridan was absent. Sheridan was opportunely returning, and met his disorgan- 
ized and demoralized men in full retreat, when with his peculiar adroitness and 
personal magnetism, he rallied them around him and led them back to that battle 



338 WILLIAM A. irjCKINGHAM. 

nosseo aiul the whole tier ot StJuthern States, to appear on 
the AtUintic and join his eonnnander and friend in accept- 
iniX tlie surrender of all that remains ol' the Confederacy. 

Amonjx all tho cavalry rai<ls of the war, of which there were so 
many, of siuh a larjio force, such a peculiar orijanization, with such 
a broad arena.- and which developed such able commanders on both 
siilcs, Sheridan's raid around Ijce's army in the Wilderness campaijjn, 
aJid the help it was to Grant, was the most important as well as the 
nu^st brilliant of any. The object of it was, as stated by (tcneral 
tJrant: " If successfully executed — and it was — he would annoy the 
cnomy by cuttinji his lines of supplies and telegraphic communications, 
and destroy or get for his own use sup]>lies iu store or coming up; 
would draw the enemy's cavalry after hin\, and thus better i>rotect 
our Ilanks. rear and trains, than by remaining with the army; and his 
absence would save the trains drawing his forage and other supplies 
from Fredericksburg, wbicii had now become our base. He started 
at daylight on the morning of the 0th of ^lay, just after the battle of 
the Wilderness, and accomplished more than was expected. It was 
.sixteen days before he got back to the Army of the Potomac." — 
["War Hook;'' Vol. IV, p. IKi. 

" The ' fifteen thousand ' paper strength of the corps," says General 
Kodenbrough, who was engaged in these operations, "was sifted to 
12.424 et^ectives. There were three divisions, subdivided into seven 
brigades. To each ilivision were attached two batteries of horse 
artillery, with the same number as a reserve. The command was 
stripped of all impediments, such as vuiserviceable animals, wagons 
aiul tents. The necessary ammunition train, two ambulances to a 
division, a few pack mules for baggage, tliree-days' rations, and a l.alf- 
day's forage carried on the saddle composed the outfit. On the '.tth 
tlay of May. 18(>4, at (> A. m., this magnificent body of 10,000 horsemen 
moved out on the Telegraph road leading from Fredericksburg to 
Richmond. According to a Southern authority it took four hours at 
a brisk pace to pass a given point; to those who viewed it from 
behind barred windows and doors, it was like the rush of a mighty 
torrent."— ["U'(rr Iiook\" Vol. IV, p. 189. 

Passing around the Confederate army hy the southwest, 
late in the afternoon they struek the Virginia Central 
railroad, and at an opportune moment, for there were two 

of Winchester, October 1!>, which has lieoome as frraphic in picture anil sonc— sd 
familiar as " Sheridan's Hide "—as it proved important to the siu-cossuf the war, in 
sliuttinj; off inroads from tluit (juarter, and in shuttinf; out the Confederacy from 
that storehouse of its supplies. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 339 

trains of cars carrying wounded and prisoners from Spott- 
sylvania, just ready to start for Richmond. In a moment 
378 Union captives rent the air with cheers for their deliver- 
ance, while the troops, after reserving what they needed, 
set fire to the trains and Ijuildings with a million and a half 
Df rations and supplies for Lee's army. The railroad track 
and telegraph were destroyed through the night for some 
.iistance, when by morning Stewart with his cavalry force 
was upon them, skirmishing with them briskly and attack- 
ing them v/ith vigor, and our troops pushed on across the 
South Anna, defeating the enemy's cavalry after a severe 
encounter, and destroying culverts, trestle bridges and six 
miles of track. On the fourth day they encountered Stuart 
with his main body of cavalry, where a " determined stand 
was made for the right of way to the Confederate capital, 
distant only six miles," Here is where General Stuart fell, 
who had been to General Lee thus far in his most important 
operations, what Sheridan was becoming to General Grant, 
and was greatly bemourned, not only for the loss of his 
military ability, but also for his personal worth. General 
Rodenbrough, who was one of Sherman's officers and 
engaged in this expedition with the magnanimity of a true 
soldier, pays this generous tribute to his opponent : " Deep 
in the hearts of all true cavalrymen, North and South, will 
ever burn a sentiment of admiration mingled with regret 
for this knightly soldier and generous man." 

From this point the expedition pressed on with the utmost 
vigor until it was within the outer defenses of the city. 
Here it was betrayed into an ambush from which it escaped 
with difficulty. Then it took the wrong road, from which it 
had to be recalled. Xext they had a struggle for a bridge as 
their only escape, and with an unknown force. " This," as 
they said, " was the tightest place we ever got into." Just 
then Sheridan, with his quick invention and inspiring pres- 
ence, appeared on the scene. " Pushed hard, are ye I What 



340 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

do you suppose we have in front of us 'i A lot of depart- 
ment clerks from Richmond, who have been forced into the 
ranks. I could capture Richmond, if I wanted, but I can't 
hold it, and the prisoners tell me that every house in the 
suburbs is loopholed and the streets barricaded. It isn't 
worth the men it would cost, but I'll stay all day to show 
these fellows bow much I care for them, and go when I get 
ready. Send for your caissons and take it easy." The 
enemy had torn up the bridge, and were in same force on 
the opposite bank. Merritt dismounted all but three regi- 
ments to repair the bridge. Custer charged his men over 
the railroad bridge to cover the reconstruction. As soon 
as the flooring was down, the mounted force under Colonel 
Gibbs crossed. Gregg and Wilson covered the crossing of 
the ammunition and ambulance trains, and after a brisk 
affair with a brigade of infantry and cavalry, the raiders 
were well out of their net, and on their way to our army 
under Butler, whence after the briefest rest and much- 
needed supplies were procured, they set off to find Grant. 
After a forty-hours' night march they found him on the 
morning of the 25th, having successfully performed their 
allotted task. " They had deprived Lee's army for the time 
being of its ' eyes and ears ' — or means of obtaining informa- 
tion of the enemy — damaged his communications, destroyed 
an immense quantity of supplies, deprived them of their 
great cavalry leader, secured our great army train of 4,000 
wagons from annoyance, saved our government the subsist- 
ence of 10,000 horses and men for three weeks, peijfected 
the morale of the cavalry corps, and produced a moral 
effect of incalculable value to the Union cause. Sheridan's 
casualties on the raid were 625 men killed or wounded, and 
300 horses." 

Whatever it gained, this Wilderness campaign plunged 
the whole nation. South as well as North, into anguish 
such as it never knew before or since. The loss of 50,000 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 341 

men on one side by death, wounds and imprisonment, and 
o\ two-thirds as many on the other, reaching as far as a 
military draft could reach or patriotism extend, was sure 
to spread universal and the deepest sorrow. It was like 
that scene described in vision by the Prophet Jeremiah, 
where he saw his people carried away into their Babylonian 
captivity, and beheld their old ancestress standing by the 
roadside as they passed, and wringing her hands in hope- 
less despair: "A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation 
and bitter weeping; Rachael weeping for her children 
refused to be comforted for her children, because they 
were not." 

That was a heavy price paid for the reformation and 
recovery of God's people. And while ours seemed at the 
time too heavy a cost for almost any blessings, we are fast 
coming to think differently of it, and to regard the restora- 
tion of our Union, the reorganization of our Republic, the 
recovery of equal rights for all men, and the re-establish- 
ment of successful self-government in both Church and 
State, for the imitation of mankind in all future time, as 
worth it all, as so many martyrs have done ; for the glory 
of God, and the welfare of our fellow-men. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Sherman's Campaign in Georgia. 

The Capture of Atlanta and Removal of the Inhabitants — Preparing 
for the March to the Sea — Capture of Savannah. 

When General Grant, now lieutenant general of all the 
armies, set out for Richmond early in May, 1864, General 
Sherman started the same day on his march through 
Georgia. Both expeditions were parts of the same plan. 
Never were commanders more fully possessed of each other's 
confidence, or more generous toward each other's fame^ 
than these. Instead of the jealousies and bickerings which 
had existed in the Army of the Potomac, and the want of 
harmony between the commander-in-chief and the War 
Department, and the disposition of the government to carry 
on a campaign in its details a thousand miles away from 
the war office, there was now to be confidence and co-opera- 
tion, and a generous regard for each others fame, as well as 
superb military ability and the noblest patriotism. General 
Grant says : — 

In my first interview with Mr. Lincoln alone, he stated to me that 
he had never professed to be a militaiy man, or to know how cam- 
paigns should be conducted, and never wanted to interfere in them; 
but that procrastination on the part of commanders, and the pressure 
from the people at the North and from Congress, which was always 
with him, forced him into issuing his " Military Orders." He did not 
know that they were not all wrong, and did know that some of them 
were. All he wanted, or had ever wanted, was some one who would 
take the responsibility and act, and call on him for assistance needed; 
be would pledge himself to use all the power of the government in 
rendering such assistance. Assuring him that I would do the best t 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 343 

could with the means at hand, and avoid as far as possible annoying 
him or the War Department, our first interview ended. — [''iVar 
Book,'' Vol. IV, p.' 100. 

General Sherman also says : — 

ilr. Lincoln was the wisest man of our day, and more truly and 
kindly gave voice to my secret thoughts and feelings, when he wrote 
me at Savannah from Washington, under date of December 2(3, 1864: 
"When you were about leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was 
anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you were the better judge, 
and remembering 'nothing risked, nothing gained,' I did not inter- 
fere. Now the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours, 
for I believe that none of us went further than to acquiesce, and 
taking the work of General Thomas into account, as it should be 
taken, it is indeed a great success. Xot only does it afford the ob- 
vious and immediate advantages, but in showing to the world that 
your army could be divided, putting the stronger part to an impor- 
tant new service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing 
force of the whole. Hood's army, it brings those who sat in darkness 
to see a great light. But what next ? I suppose it will be safer if I 
leave General Grant and yourself to decide." — [" War Book,'' ;). 2J6. 

General Sherman, in his " Introduction to the Atlantic 
Expedition," pays this noble tribute to General Grant, and 
in the disclosure it makes of his own interesting traits of 
character and noble sentiments, wins as much respect tor 
himself as to his commander. 

I now turn with a feeling of extreme delicacy to the conduct of that 
other campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, Savannah and Raleigh, 
which with liberal discretion was committed to me by General Grant 
in his minute instructions of April 4 and April 19, 1864. To all mili- 
tary students these letters must be familiar, because they have been 
published again and again, and there never was and never can be a 
question of rivalry, or claim between us as to the relative merits of 
the manner in which we played our respective parts. We were as 
brothers; I the older man in years, he the higher in rank. We both 
believed in our heart of hearts that the success of the Union cause was 
not only necessary to the then generation of Americans, but to all 
future generations. We both professed to be gentlemen and pro- 
fessional soldiers, educated in the science of war by our generous gov- 
ernment for the very occasion which had arisen. Neither of us by 
nature was a combative man, but with homes, hearts, and a clear pur- 
pose to do what man could, we embarked on that campaign, which I 



344 WILLIAM A. I$UrKIN(JHAM. 

believe, in its strategy, in its logistics, in its grand and minor tactics, 
has added new luster to tlie old science of war. Both of us had at our 
front generals to whom in early life we had been accustomed to look 
up; educated and experienced soldiers like ourselves, not likely to 
make any Tuistakes, and each of whom had as strong an army as coulil 
be collected from tlie mass of the Southern people; of the same blood 
as ourselves, brave, confident, and well equipped; in addition to 
which they had the most decided advantage of operating in their own 
difficult country of mountain, forest, ravine and river, affording ad. 
mirable opportunities for defense, besides the other equally impor- 
tant advantage, that we had to invade our unqualified enemy and 
expose our long line of supplies to the guerrillas of an " exasperated 
people." Again, as we advanced, we had to leave guards to bridges, 
stations and intermediate depots, diminishing the fighting force, 
while our enemy gained strength by picking up his detachments as 
he fell back, and had railroads to bring supplies and re-enforcements 
from his rear. I instance these facts to offset the common assertion, 
that we of the North won the war by brute force, and not by courage 
and skill.— ["IFar Book," p. 250. 

Sherman started from Chattanooga, which is on the 
southern border of Tennessee (the Confederate forces having 
already been driven out of Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
also out of Mississippi, along down the river so far as 
Vicksburg and New Orleans), for Atlanta, the "Gate City" 
of the South. It opened into the interior of the State of 
Georgia, and was the center of all the important southern 
lines of railroad, reaching not only back to Tennessee and 
Kentucky and into Western Virginia, but stretching also 
along the Gulf States, and up through South and North 
Carolina and Virginia to the Confederate capital at Rich- 
mond. It was along these railroads that the Confederate 
government transferred its troops from the neighborhood of 
Richmond to Atlanta and Cliattanooga, and furnished them 
with supplies and the munitions of war. .To secure and 
hold that city, was to fatally cripple the operations of the 
Confederacy. And though a difficult and doubtful under- 
taking, to which the government slowly and reluctantly 
gave its assent, it proved more effective than could have 



WILLTAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 345 

been expected in terminating the war. Atlanta was 120 
miles from Chattanooga, with only a single railroad track 
running through a mountainous and hostile country, which 
was liable to be broken up at any time, and must be repaired 
and guarded again before Sherman's army could be sure of 
■subsistence for a week. Even then he was so dependent 
for many of his supplies upon Louisville, 500 miles distant, 
that every mile he moved farther from his supplies he 
increased his risk and diminished his force, for he must 
repair every mile of broken railroad behind him and leave 
n sufficient guard to protect it. He was also in a strange 
and hostile country, where he was liable to encounter at 
any time some ntrongly fortified position, and where the 
people were " peaceable citizens by day and guerrillas by 
night." Besides, such cavalry leaders as Wheeler and 
Forest were always on their line of march, breaking up 
their communications and appropriating their supplies. 
Still Sherman had confidence in reaching and holding 
Atlanta, if he went no further. And there was this under- 
standing between him and Grant, as he tells us : — 

That had General Grant overwhelmed and scattered Lee"s army, 
^nd occupied Hichraond, he would have come to Atlanta; but as I 
happened to occupy Atlanta first, and had driven Hood off to a 
divergent line of operations far to the west, it was good strategy to 
leave him to a subordinate force, and with my main force join Grant 
:at Kichmond. — [" War Book,'" Vol. IV, jy. 2o5. 

General Sherman set out for Atlanta on the 4th of May, 
1864, with a well appointed army of 100,000 men. General 
Joseph E. Johnston, the Confederate commander whom 
he was to encounter, probably had only about half that 
number.* But he was one whom General Sherman regarded 

* General Sherman says : " Coincident with the movement of the Army of the 
Potomac, as announced by telegraph, I advanced from our base at Chattanooga, 
■with the Army of the Ohio, 13,55? ; tho Army of the Cumberland. 60,773, and the 
Ji.rmy of the Tennessee, 24,465 ; a total of 93,797, rnd 254 pieces of artillery."'— [" War 
hook:' Vol. JV.j). 252. 



346 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

" as equal in all the elements of generalship to Lee," and 
of whom he said : " No officer or soldier who served under 
me will question his generalship. His retreats were timely, 
in good order, and he left nothing behind." His knowledge 
of the country which he was called upon to defend, the sympa- 
thy and co-operation of the people among whom he was to 
carry on his operations, the peculiar capabilities of that 
region for military defense, and the series of remarkably well- 
selected and skillfully constructed fortifications which he had 
prepared against such an invasion, do him credit, and with 
any considerable force ought perhaps to have made Sherman's 
progress more difficult than it proved. But the expedition 
to Atlanta, and capture of Savannah, and march through 
the Gulf States and up along the Atlantic coast, until he 
could leave his army long enough to run up by sea from 
Wilmington, N. C, to City Point, and confer with Grant 
and the President, and then return in time to receive the 
surrender of his old opponent, just after Lee had surren- 
dered to Grant — this must forever make that campaign the 
most difficult, the most successful, and certainly the most 
romantic of anything in our war. " I feel," writes Grant 
to Sherman, " that you have accomplished the most gigantic 
undertaking given to any general in the war, with a skill 
that will be acknowledged in history as unsurpassed, if not 
unequaled." And Halleck writes : " I do not hesitate to 
say, that your campaign has been the most brilliant of 
this war." 

Look at the country through which this campaign was 



General Johnston, in his article in the " War Book," p. 260, gives the strength of 
the Confederate army as only 43,000, 37,652 infantry, 3,812 artillery with 112 guns 
and 2,393 cavalry, a total of 42,857. The " War Book " gives another estimate, 
taken from the files of the Confederate War Department, which brings it up to 
84,000 a little later. General Johnston's statement must have had reference to his 
army after its hard fighting and severe defeat at Chattanooga, and before it was 
prepared for this campaign. It is probable that it was not much more than half as 
large as Sherman's, and the only wonder is that the South did not make it larger, 
and that, with his rare field for operation and defense, he should not have caused 
an invader more trouble. 



" WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 347 

conducted. That of the Wilderness was bad enough for 
an invader, as McClellan and Grant found it, with its for- 
ests, ridges, ravines and swamps, but it was limited to the 
Peninsula, and a single corner of Virginia, while this 
stretched away from Lookout mountain, the scene of 
Hooker's fame, to the top of Kenesaw, from which John- 
ston looked down so severely at first upon Sherman's 
approach ; and through such canons as Buzzard Roost and 
Snake Creek Gap, to Altoona Pass, where it seemed as if 
a few hundred men could obstruct the passage of a host. 
These positions, well fortified in advance, and with roads 
opened to still others in the rear, who could be confident 
that at some one of them he would not be arrested, and 
meet the fate of rashness ? How could he presume that he 
would make no mistakes, incur no inevitable interruption 
of his plan, encounter no absolute defeat ? General Sher- 
man was certainly not so presumptuous, only proposing to 
accept his defeats, correct his mistakes, and what he could 
not accomplish in one way, hope to accomplish in another. 
Indeed, his successful campaign to Atlanta was to be his 
warrant for cutting loose there from everything behind 
him, and beginning his " twelve-hundred mile march to the 
sea." And it was not until then that he proposed it, or 
that Grant would have given his assent to such an other- 
wise chimerical undertaking. True, he had the great West 
behind him, with its unstinted supply of men and means. 
He had the confidence of the President and of his cabinet, 
such as no one before him had ])0sse8sed more fully. And 
he certainly was as well assured of the respect, friendship 
and co-operation of General Grant as he need to have been 
in the most hazardous enterprise. But after all, the suc- 
cess of a campaign of such magnitude and peril, his careful 
planning, its vigorous execution, his quickness to detect and 
remedy a mistake ; the spirit with which he inspired his 
army, and their ceaseless " tramp, tramp " through all those 



348 WILLIAM A. HDCKINGHAM. 

Southern States and quite up the Atlantic coast, arc still 
the reverberations, and ever will be, of a history replete 
with great men and noble achievements. 

The plan of General Sherman's campaign was essentially 
that of General Grant, a series of flank movements ; mov- 
ing around an enemy's position, when he could not be driven 
from it by assault, and compelling him to fall back to pro- 
tect his communications in the rear ; only there were to be 
more of them, made among the mountains where defense 
was easier, and all the more ciitical when the invader was 
liable to have his own communication broken up, and be 
left stranded far from either reinforcements, or even food. 
This is what made the Atlanta expedition so difficult and 
so delicate, and when accomplished, justified the faith of 
"Sherman's friends, that he might be trusted to go anywhere 
he pleased over the South, and report himself at a given time 
in the capital of North Carolina, and arrange with Grant 
the surrender of the other Confederate army, and settle for- 
ever the fate of the Confederacy. 

Sherman's first advance from Chattanooga was upon 
Dalton. He made no direct assault, but only a feint, dur- 
ing which his main army executed a flanking movement, 
which compelled Johnston to fall back to his next strong- 
hold, Resaca. Here there was more fighting, and a repeti- 
tion of the same tactics, until Johnston, whose army had 
now been considerably increased, took an impregnable posi- 
tion in the Altoona mountains. Here Sherman, after a 
few days' delay to prepai'e supplies for twenty days, set out 
on the 25th of May for the most vigorous, critical and suc- 
cessful part of his advance upon Atlanta. 

The next two months there was constant fighting. The 
decisive battle, or series of battles, must be fought, if John- 
ston was to retain that gateway of the South, and Sherman 
lield back from devastating so many of those Southern States, 
Avhich had done most to bring on the war, and suffered 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 349 

least from its ravages. The Confederacy had reinforced its 
army to the utmost, and its commander was at the end of 
his defensive policy, for he was just occupying his last 
mountain fastness, " the famous Kenesaw position," with a 
4iigh mountain crest for his main works, and a peak at each 
end as important as Little Round Top and Great Round 
Top were to the defenses of Gettysburg. 

" The whole line was stronger in artificial contrivances and natural 
features than the cemetei-y of Gettysburg," says General Howard, 
who tried them both, with more trouble from the latter than the 
former. " We closed down upon him in this position and in battle 
array," says General Sherman, " repaired the railroad up to our very 
camps, and then prepared for the contest. Not a day, not an hour, 
not a minute was there a cessation of fire. Our skirmishers were in 
absolute contact, the lines of battle and the batteries but little in the 
rear of the skirmishers, and thus matters continued for a full month, 
when I ordered a general assault, with the full co-operation of my 
great lieutenants, Thomas, McPherson and Schofield, but we failed, 
losing 3,000 men, to the Confederate loss of 630. Still the result was 
that Johnston abandoned the strongest possible position, and was in 
full retreat. We were on his heels, skirmished with his rear on the 
4th of July and saw him fairly across the Chattahoochee, covered and 
protected by the best line of field entrenchments I have ever seen, 
prepared long in advance. We had advanced into the enemy's coun- 
try 120 miles, with a single track railroad, which had to bring cloth- 
ing, food, ammunition, everything requisite for 100,000 men and 20,000 
animals. The city of Atlanta, the gate city, opening into the interior 
of the important State of Georgia, was in sight; its protecting army 
was shaken, but not defeated, and onward we had to go, illustrating 
the principle that ' an army once on the offensive, must maintain the 
offensive.' ''—[''War Book," Vol. IV, p. 253. 

At this time the Confederate government, dissatisfied 
with the Fabian policy of Johnston, relieved him and substi- 
tuted General Hood, who had a reputation as a fighter. 
He found the Confederate army reduced and dispirited. 
He, however, began an aggressive and venturesome course. 
He made three desperate attacks within a short time and 
did great damage, but was at last convinced that Johnston 
had not erred in keeping within his defenses. He found 



350 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

himself forced to fall back, largely because only in that way 
could he feel sure of preventing Sherman from releasing 
the 34,000 prisoners then at Andersonvillc. He himself 
gives this as one principal reason for his change in the 
conduct of the campaign. General Hood, however, was 
soon compelled to withdraw within the defenses of Atlanta, 
which was then invested by Sherman, and it was not long 
before he was obliged to abandon those defenses, and our 
army took possession of the city the 2d of September, 
1864. 

This was not reaching Sherman's " objective," which he 
proposed to himself, and which was regarded by others as 
his special part to perform, to annihilate Johnston's army 
and desolate the Southern States, any more than Grant's 
investment of Richmond was disposing of Lee and break- 
ing up the Confederacy. Here was General Sherman, only 
120 miles from Chattanooga, his starting point, and he had 
spent four months already in skillful maneuvering and 
constant fighting, and had lost 30,000 of his army. How 
much longer will it take, and how many more re-enforce- 
ments must his army receive, before he shall have accom- 
plished his part of his agreement with Grant, to meet him 
somewhere on the Atlantic coast, and divide the glory of 
having crushed the Confederacy between them ? He might 
perhaps reach Savannah, 300 miles distant from Atlanta, 
or Charleston, just about as far away. But with all the 
resources of that great State of Georgia, and what might be 
gathered from the half-dozen other Gulf States, together 
with those of South and North Carolina, still under such 
able military control as Johnston's and Hardee's, was it any- 
thing less than presumption to cherish and persist in that 
" March to the Sea " ? The government was willing he 
should move upon Savannah, and was prepared to meet him 
there with a sufficient fleet of war vessels and transport to 
help open that harbor, and then transport him and his 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 351 

whole army up the Atlantic coast, to aid Grant in reducing 
Richmond. This was all the government dared hope for, 
and even General Grant was not willing- as yet to encourage 
the dream of his friend. Indeed, General Rawlins, his own 
able, and trusted chief of staff, regarded it as so unwise and 
hazardous, that he left General Grant's headquarters and 
went up to Washington, to dissuade the War Department 
from sanctioning such a project. 

But General Sherman had so far been successful in his 
plans, and if Grant would allow it, and the government 
would not interfere, he had, as he thought, reasonable 
expectations of complete success. So his next step was to 
fortify Atlanta, hold this key to the whole railroad system 
of the South, confiscate the military stores and any supplies 
of the Confederate government collected there, and destroy 
all the manufactories upon which their armies were so 
dependent. This was effectually done. 

He ordered the people of the city to remove from it, 
offered to transport them all, with clothing and furniture, to 
any designated point, and did thus remove 2,000 of them. 
General Hood protested against this order as an "unprec- 
edented measure," which " transcends in studied and in- 
genious cruelty all acts ever brought to my attention in the 
dark history of war." He appealed to General Sherman to 
revoke the order. The latter replied that he had to pre- 
pare for a future struggle in which millions of people out- 
side of Atlanta were deeply interested, that it was essential 
to establish peace by defeating the rebel armies, and that 
his military plans made it necessary for the inhabitants of 
Atlanta to go away. He repeated his offer to provide trans- 
portation. Then he went on to say : — 

War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it. Those who brought war 
on our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can 
pour out. I had no hand in making this war, and I will make more 
sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace. But you cannot 



362 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

have peace, and a division of tlie country. We don't want your 
negroes, or your liouses, or your laud, or anything; that you have, but 
we do want, and will have, a just obedience to the laws of the United 
States. That we will have, and if it involves the destruction of your 
improvements we cannot help it. 

You have heretofore read public sentiment in your newspapers. 
They live by falsehood and excitement, and the quicker you seek for 
truth in other quarters, the better for you. You beoan this war with- 
out one jot or tittle of provocation. I myself have seen in Missouri, 
Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, hundreds and thousands of 
women and children, fleeing from your own armies and desperadoes, 
hungry and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicksburg and Missouri 
we fed thousands upon thousands of j^our families of rebel soldiers 
left on our hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now that war 
comes to you, you feel very dift'erently; you deprecate its horrors. 
But you did not feel them when you were sending carloads of soldiers 
and ammunition, and were molding shells and shot to carry war into 
Kentucky and Tennessee, and desolate the homes of hundreds and 
thousands of good people, who only asked to live in peace at their 
old homes, and under the government of their inheritance. 

But when peace does come, you may call upon me for anytliing. 
Then I will share with you the last cracker, and watch with you to 
guard your homes and families against danger from any quarter. 
Now you must go, and take with you the old and feeble, feed and 
nurse them, and build for them, in more quiet places, habitations to 
shield them against the weather, until the mad passions of men cool 
down and allow the Union and peace once more to settle on your old 
homes in Atlanta. — [Draper's " Civil War,'' Vol. Ill, p. o06. 

Sherman was now in possession of Atlanta, and it was 
well fortitied and supplied with all that his army needed. 
But he could not march for the sea, leaving Hood in his 
rear. He held the city and turned back to look after Hood, 
fighting him during the autumn on many of the recent bat- 
tle grounds. After a time Hood began to make his way 
North, intending to invade Tennessee and Kentucky, and 
draw Sherman away from the campaign he had planned. 
During this movement occurred the famous holding of Al- 
toona Pass, by General Corse, which brought him the brevet 
of major general. His ear and cheek bone were shot away 
during the engagement, but he continued to direct his men 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 353 

until the relieving force arrived.* Hood continued his 
march North, getting further and further from Atlanta, 
until he reached Nashville, 300 miles from that city. Then 
Sherman sent two divisions of his army to reinforce Thomas, 
who was in command at Nashville, and believing that suffi- 
cient occupation had been found there for Hood, turned to 
his plan for a march to the sea. He communicates his 
plans in detail to Thomas, and to each of his corps com- 
manders. He sent back his surplus artillery, needless 
baggage and supplies, the sick, wounded and refugees, to 
Chattanooga. He withdrew the garrisons which he had 
left between himself and Chattanooga, and sent them back 
there with whatever of public property, or railroad stock, 
could be saved from the general destruction. Even when 
the railroads were broken up for long distances, as from 



* General Howard, who was with General Sherman at the time, and in command 
of the leadinsj division of his army, jrives this correspondence between the Con- 
federate commander and General Corse :— 

"Altoona, October 5, 1864. 

" Commanding Officer of the United States Forces: 

'"Sip. :— I have placed the forces under my command in such positions that you are 
compelled to surrender, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood, I call upon you 
to surrender your forces at once and unconditionally. Five minutes will be allowed 
you to decide. Should you accede to this, you will be treated in the most honorable 
manner as prisoners of war. I have the honor to be, 

" Very respectfully yours. 
'■ S. G. French, Major General Commanding' Forces, Confederate States." 

To which came the following reply :— 
^"Ma.jok General S. G. French, Confederate States Army: 

" Your communication, demanding surrender of my command, I acknowledge 
receipt of, and respectfully reply, that we are prepared for the '" needless effusion 
of blood " whenever it is agreeable to you. 

" I am very respectfully yours, 
'■-John M. Corse, Brigadier General Commanding Forces, United States." 

Here originated the popular Sunday-school hymn and music of " Hold the Fort." 
And General Sherman tells us of his anxiety and relief, during that battle, as he 
watched it, fifteen miles away, from the top of Kenesaw mountain, on '" a beautiful 
day, and with a superb view of the vast panorama to the north and west," ami 
tried in vain all day to get some news of the result. The telegraph wires had been 
cut, and he signaled from Kenesaw to Altoona, over the heads of the enemy, and 
<;ould get no reply. " But while I was with him the signal officer caught a faint 
glimpse of the tell-tale flag through an embrasure of the works, and after much 
time he made out these letters: ' C. R. S. E. H. E. R.,' which meant, 'Corse is 
here,' and was a source of great relief, as giving me the first assurance that Corse 
had received his orders, and that the place was adequately garrisoned." 



354 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Resaca back, the rails were saved to be relaid wherever they 
might be needed. Atlanta had to be destroyed, for it must 
be abandoned, and had too many advantages for defense to 
be left with any additional ones in the hands of the enemy. 
He telegraphed to Grant: "If 1 turn back, the whole effect 
of my campaign will be lost. I am clearly of the opinion 
that the best results will follow my contemplated movement 
through Georgia." To which Grant replied: "With the 
force you have left with General Thomas, he must be able 
to take care of Hood and destroy him. I really do not see 
that you can withdraw from where you are to follow Hood, 
without giving up all you have gained in territory. I say 
then, go on as you propose." His very last message was to 
Thomas: "All is well!" Then the telegraph was cut, 
and supplies for his army abandoned, and he set out to 
march through so many of those intensely humiliated and 
embittered Southern States. Sherman was now to cut 
loose from all his connections in the rear and be completely 
lost to the North for the next six weeks, except for what 
could be gleaned from the rebel newspapers. In view of 
the character of this great undertaking, it is worth while to 
notice the orders that were given in advance for its general 
conduct. The troops were to take only twenty or forty 
subsistences, and were expected to live on the country. 
They were to have organized companies to scour the 
country for the breadth of thirty miles, and gather horses, 
mules, wagons, food and forage, but were to " endeavor to 
leave with each family a reasonable portion for its main- 
tenance." Manufactories, depots and cotton gins were to 
be destroyed, but only on order of a commander. Forag- 
ing parties were to abstain from abusive and threatening 
language, and soldiers were forbidden to enter houses. 

The army, as it began its march on the morning of the 
16th of November, was made up of " four corps, of an aggre- 
gate strength of 60,000 infantry, one cavalry division of 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 355 

6,500, and the artillery reduced to a minimum, one gun per 
thousand men." It was divided into two armies — the 
right wing, or Army of the Tennessee, and the left wing, 
the Army of Georgia, the former under General Slocum, to 
follow the railroad toward Augusta, and the latter under 
General Howard, along the Macon road. These two lines 
connect Atlanta with the sea, the former terminating by 
the way of Augusta at Charleston, 300 miles away, and the 
latter at Savannah, about the same distance, by the way of 
the Central Georgia road, and connecting Macon with this 
point. These two main lines of railroad were connected by 
a crossroad from Augusta to Miller, fifty miles apart.*' 
The two armies, consisting of two divisions each, kept near 
the two lines of railroad running east, so that the one could 
threaten Augusta, and the other either Savannah or Charles- 
ton, and so distract and divide the Confederate forces, that 
no sufficient force could be concentrated at any point to 
resist them. This plan was most successfully used, when 
the Army of the Tennessee was threatening Columbia, and 
the Army of Georgia invested Savannah. These two armies 
kept about thirty miles apart, marching fifteen miles a day, 
with each column masked in all directions by such a cloud 
of skirmishers, that little could be known of the direction 
of their march, or what was taking place within those 
living walls of a conquering army. But whatever else was 
or was not taking place, under the orders and arrangement 
of the expedition, the soldiers were expected to live upon 
the country, and all public property or manufactories that 
would help the Confederacy carry on the war, were to be 

* All the troops were provided with wagon trains loaded with ammunition and sup- 
plies of about twenty days' bread, forty days' sugar and coffee, a double allowance) of 
salt for forty days, and beef cattle equal to forty days. The wagons also carried about 
three days' forage in grain. The troops were instructed, by a judicious system of 
foraging, to maintain this state of things as long as possible, living upon the coun- 
try, which abounds in corn, sweet potatoes, and meat. In a continuous line, the 
army would have stretched over fifty miles ; the wagon train would have reached 
over thirty mUes. At every halt, the adjacent fields were covered with horses, mules 
and cattle. Not much was leit in the rear. 



366 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

destroyed or conliscated. The railroads, of course, must be 
destroyed behind them, and so effectually destroyed that no 
use could be made of the burnt-up ties and twisted rails 
that were left. Regular organized parties of " Bummers," 
as they were called — not " idle, worthless fellows, with no 
visible means of support," as they used to be regarded, but 
the most enterprising, daring, successful purveyors for the 
army that had ever been invented — set out in advance of 
the early march, who pushed off for miles on both sides of 
the several columns, found the plantations with their barns 
of grain and fodder, their pigs and poultry, their sheep and 
well-cured bacon, and were waiting with their treasures by 
the roadside as the trains came along to receive them. 
They were men who could do such woi-k when required of 
them, and guard equally well the plantation honor and 
family, while they were laid under such contribution for 
their support. These were the men whom their commander, 
who was a strict disciplinarian, and with a knightly sensi- 
tiveness as to what was unbecoming a true soldier, com- 
plimented so highly for their deportment on this very 
campaign. " The behavior of our troops in Savannah has 
been so manly, so quiet, so perfect, that I take it as the best 
evidence of discipline and true courage. Never was a 
hostile city, filled with women and children, occupied by a 
large army with less disorder, or more system, order and 
good government." 

General Sherman marched straight upon Savannah, and 
before General Ilardee, who was m ccmmand of the Con- 
federate forces, could be sure of his destination, he had so 
•divided his command between the places threatened that 
they were utterly unable to resist any concentrated attack. 
He took the city after a siege, and this was all that had 
been expected of him. It had been proposed to have a 
fleet meet him there and take his whole army to Grant at 
City Point. This was suggested to him by Grant as late 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 357 

as December 6. In his reply, Sherman said he had intended 
to proceed to Columbia, S. C, then to Raleigh, and then to 
report to Grant. A little later he wrote : " Many and 
many a person in Georgia asked me why I did not go to 
South Carolina, and when I answered that I was en route 
for that State, the invariable reply was : ' Well, if you will 
make those people feel the utmost severities of the war, we 
will pardon you for your desolation of Georgia.' " General 
Sherman seems to have been one of the first to discern the 
really divided, exhausted, discouraged condition of the South, 
and what an empty eggshell the Confederacy was. The 
Confederate States were criminating one another, especially 
South Carolina, for having forced them into Secession. 
Georgia was never more than half-hearted in it, and Alex- 
ander H. Stephens, the vice-president of the Confederacy, 
would have been only too glad to accept the restoration of 
the Union as the issue of the war. This State claimed the 
right to withdraw her own troops from the service of the Con- 
federacy, as she did her 2,000 State militia, after the fall of 
Atlanta. The Confederate troops were at this time deserting 
in numbers almost as fast as they were killed and disabled 
in the service. Some of the leading Confederate generals 
had lost their respect for President Davis, and were freely 
criticising his management of the war, and especially his 
blindness to the coming result. Charleston, which began 
the war so bravely, could attempt nothing whatever to 
repel the invader, and her people were fleeing in dismay, 
like guilty souls, to escape their doom. All the other 
Southern States had lost their courage and their troops, 
and were ready to let that single army inarch up their 
coast, encountering no successful resistance, until Lee and 
Johnston were both glad to capitulate. Yet it would seem 
that General Sherman was the only one up to this time who 
appreciated the real weakness of the South, and dared to 
test it with the hope of success. 



358 WILLIAM A. HUCKINGHAM. 

A fleet had been sent to meet Sherman at Savannah, and 
it arrived, in command of Admiral Dahlgren, about the 
time Sherman began the investment of the city. He re- 
ceived immediate communication with the admiral, and 
General Foster who was on board. He asked no help but 
a few siege guns, and in three days the city fell. Of the 
campaign to this point General Sherman wrote to the Sec- 
retary of War: "The army has marched over 300 miles in 
24 days, directly through the heart of Georgia, and reached 
the sea with its subsistence trains almost unbroken. In 
the entire march five officers and 58 men were killed, 13 
officers and 232 men wounded ; one officer and 258 men 
missing, making a total list of casualties of but 577 of all 
ranks; while 1,338 Confederate officers and men were made 
prisoners. Ten thousand negroes left the plantations of 
their former masters, and accompanied the column when 
it reached Savannah; over 20,000 bales of cotton were 
burned, besides 25,000 captured at Savannah; 13,000 head 
of beef cattle, 9,500,000 pounds of corn ; 10,500,000 of fod- 
der were taken from the country and issued to the men 
and animals. The men lived mainly on the sheep, hogs, 
turkeys, geese, chickens, sweet potatoes and rice, gathered 
by the foragers from the plantations along the route of 
each day's march. Sixty thousand men, taking merely of 
the surplus which fell in their way as they marched rapidly 
on the main roads, subsisted for three weeks in the very 
country where the Union prisoners at Andersonville were 
starved to death or idiocy; 5,000 horses and 4,000 mules 
were impressed for the cavalry and trains; 320 miles of 
railway were destroyed, and the last remaining links of 
communication between the Confederate armies in Vir- 
ginia and the West effectually severed, by burning every 
tie, twisting every rail while heated red-hot over the flaming 
piles of ties, and laying in ruin every depot, engine house, 
repair shop, water tank and turn-table." 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 359 

The announcement of this victory at the North was as 
great a relief to the public as it was to the President. 
Nothing had been heard from this army since it left At- 
lanta, except what was limited and unreliable through the 
Richmond papers. As to whether that critical undertaking 
was proving a success, or that well-appointed army was 
being repulsed, or starved into surrender, the wisest had 
their fears. But when assured that the expedition so far 
had been little more than a walk-over of the richest and 
most populous of the Southern States, and that the best 
Southern seaport not in our hands had been surrendered to 
us, it was apparent that the last resources of the Confed- 
eracy were failing them, and that the last resolute efforts 
of the North to re-enforce her armies, and save the Republic, 
were proving a success. The West had been pouring down 
her troops and supplies into the valley of the Mississippi, 
with a prodigality and determination that was now reaping 
its reward, while the East with equal spirit and the same 
self-sacrifice was providing Grant with all the troops he 
needed to supply the waste of the Wilderness, and hold Lee 
in his remorseless grasp until he, too, must surrender. The 
inspiration of such a victory at the North, as well as the 
<iiscouragement of such a defeat upon the South, could only 
hasten the end. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The Elections in 1864. 

Governor Buckinsbiiin Again Ee-elected — The Voting of Soldiers in 
tlie Field — Governor Buckingham's Words on Slavery in His Mes- 
sage — Adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment — Mr. Lincoln 
Re-elected. 

While we have been following the military operations of 
the year, we have lost sight, for the time, of the action of 
the President, the doings of Congress, the work of the 
Northern governors and their Legislatures, and the presi- 
dential election of this year. The Governor of Connecticut, 
we know, was never more busy in meeting the demand for 
troops, or the Legislature more united and efficient in sus- 
taining the general government, or more resolute in their 
determination to put down the rebellion. And what was 
true of this State and its Governor, was true of every other 
Northern State. 

The spring election in Connecticut this year was quiet 
and resulted in the re-election of Governor Buckingham. 
The " Peace Movement," in sympathy with the " Draft 
Riots" of New York city the previous year, and the 
attempt to prevent the soldiers from voting, had been 
pretty much disposed of when this election came. An 
extra session of the Legislature of four days had just been 
held at Hartford and devoted to this subject. At a previ- 
ous session the Democratic members had opposed such a 
measure, on the ground that it was unconstitutional. This 
session was to propose an amendment of the Constitution, 
allowing all electors of the State in the volunteer military 
service of the United States to vote in the field during the 
rebellion. This amendment was adopted in the House of 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 361 

Representatives by a. strict party vote of 117 yeas to 77 
nays. The Senate was not required to vote upon it, as 
such a measure must be submitted to a subsequent Legisla- 
ture, and then submitted to the Senate, before it was 
referred to the people at large for adoption by the popular 
vote. At the regular session in May this year (1864), the 
message of the Governor, it is said, " exhibited the same 
calm dignity, clear statements, and intense loyalty, that 
had characterized his previous official communications. He 
thus tersely stated the argument for the amendment giving 
the soldiers the ballot : " Freemen who sustain and pro- 
tect a government by baring their bosoms to the deadly 
shafts of its enemies, should have an opportunity to express 
an opinion in respect to its policy and the character and 
qualification of its officers."* In this same message, 
Governor Buckingham thus expressed his own convictions, 
and those of his State, not only in regard to the prosecution 
of the war, but in respect to sla^^ery as the cause of it : — 

Slavery is not dead. Its life is in the custody of its friends, and 
while it shall so remain there will be no peace. The events of the 
past ui'ge us to adopt some measure which shall terminate in favor of 
freedom that controversy which must ever exist so lon<i as a part of 
the nation remains free and a part enslaved. . . Let us embrace 
this opportunity and perform these duties (establish justice and form 
a more perfect union) with humble confidence that under the fjuid- 
ance of the King of Kings, this revolution will carry the nation 
onward in the path of prosi)eritv, intelligence, and influence, and 
upward to a higher level of freedom, civilization, and Christianity, 
until every man, whether high or low, rich or poor, learned or igno- 
rant, of whatever tribe or race or nation, shall be protected in all the 
inalienable rights which God has given him, under our national 
emblem of liberty, union, and power. 



* A newspaper at this time puts the matter thus : " Perhaps we are prejudiced, 
but it seems to us that a man who does nothing worse than shed his blood for tlie 
old flag, ought not, for so small an offense as that, to be disfranchised like a com- 
mon thief." Some of the States refused to grant this privilege to soldiers in the 
fiela. Governor Seymour of New York vetoed such a bill, and when It was after- 
wards adopted, it was purposely nullified by allowing their votes to be sent home 
and cast for them by their nearest friends. Any one may guess how many of them 
were ever c ast, or cast for those for whom they were intended. 



,/H^. 1 



362 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The constitutional amendment providing: for the exten- 
sion of the elective franchise to tiie soldiers in the field, was 
then adopted in both branches of the Legislature, and after 
being submitted to the people before the presidential election 
took place, it was ratified by a majority of 10,000, and the 
soldiers in the field, whatever might have been their party 
connections at home, pretty generally voted to sustain the 
present administration, both State and National. The 
Springfield Repuhlica7i, a newspaper remarkably quick to 
appreciate public sentiment, and sagacious in its forecasts 
of the future results of such sentiment, says in this con- 
nection : " Altogether this election has been a glorious 
triumph for the Union party of Connecticut, and a very 
flattering endorsement of Governor Buckingham's adminis- 
tration. Such an endorsement is not to be mistaken." 
This Union sentiment showed its controlling power when 
the presidential election came in the autumn. For while 
the Democrats were appealing for peace, the Republicans 
were insisting on a more vigorous prosecution of the war. 
And while the former made abundant use of the fact that 
the Union had not yet been restored after three years of 
vigorous fighting, the latter showed how much rebel terri- 
tory had already been reclaimed, and were more resolute 
than ever that the rest should be. Although the Peace 
party in Connecticut was stronger than in any other 
Northern State, the Republicans had elected more than 
two-thirds of the House of Representatives in their Legisla- 
ture, and eighteen out of the twenty-one Senators. And 
when the two parties came to be represented on the presi- 
dential ticket by Abraham Lincoln and General McClellan, 
the electoral votes of Connecticut helped to swell that 
popular majority of 400,000 for Mr. Lincoln. 

Efforts had been made from the first to settle the Seces- 
sion difficulty by negotiation and diplomacy, never so many 
or so urgent as in these last days of the Confederacy, when 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 363 

the prospect of securing; Secession by lorce of arms was 
becoming hopeless. The earlier attempts, including the 
'Convention in Washington at the call of Virginia, have 
been described. In July of this year, certain refugees in 
Canada asked a safe conduct to Washington in the interests 
■of peace. Mr. Lincoln authorized Horace Greeley to take 
•charge of the affair, and he found they were not authorized 
by the Confederacy to make any proposals. About the 
same time. Colonel Jaques of Illinois and Mr. Gilmore of 
New York went to Richmond with Mr. Lincoln's knowledge, 
but without any formal jjermission. To them Mr. Jefferson 
Davis, who was afterwards to run away in woman's clothes, 
used these swelling words : " It (the war) must go on till 
the last man of this generation falls in his tracks, and his 
children seize his musket and fight our battles — unless you 
acknowledge our right to self-government. We are not 
fighting for slavery ; we are fighting for independence. 
And that, or extermination we will have." These words, 
of course, had their effect at the North. There was another 
attempt still later, which may be noted here to complete 
the subject. It took place at Hampton Roads, between Mr. 
Stephens, the Confederate vice-president, Mr. Hunter and 
Mr. Campbell on one side, and President Lincoln and Mr. 
Seward on the other. It was after Sherman had taken 
Savannah, and Farragut was in possession of Mobile bay, 
and Charleston was deserted, and Columbia, the capital of 
South Carolina, had been sacked. It was when some of 
the Southern States, like Georgia and North Carolina, were 
reproaching South Carolina for having dragged them into 
Secession and the war, and were glad to see her reaping 
the fruit of her rashness and crime, and there was a wide- 
spread disaffection toward the Confederate government, 
■and especially toward its President. Then they came to 
negotiate a peace. But these commissioners were not 
authorized to concede the reunion of the States upon any 



364 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

terms, and President Davis utterly repudiated it, as a thing- 
never to be thought of, while President Lincoln would not 
treat with them upon any other basis. As showing how 
blind and arrogant the Confederate government even then 
was, hear how Mr. Davis addressed a great public meeting 
at Richmond, upon the return of these commissioners : " In 
my correspondence with Mr. Lincoln, that functionary has 
always spoken of the United States and the Confederacy 
as ' our afilicted country,' but in my replies I have never 
failed to refer to them as separate and distinct governments. 
And sooner than we should ever be united again, I would 
be willing to yield up everything I have on earth, and if it 
were possible I would sacrifice my life a thousand times 
before I would succumb." And he concludes by exhorting 
those at home who are able to bear arms, " to unite with 
those already in the army in repelling the foe, believing 
that thereby we would compel the Yankees in less than 
twelve months to petition us for peace on our own terms." 
To this the meeting unanimously responded : " Resolved, 
that we the citizens here assembled, do spurn, with the 
indignation due to so gross an insult, the terms on whi( h 
the President of the United States has offered peace to the 
people of the Confederate States." This was only four 
months before the surrender of the Confederate armies. 

But the presidential canvass of 1864 had come, which 
was to settle everything. The first convention called was 
addressed " To the Radical Men of the Nation," and nomi- 
nated General Fremont for President. It advocated severer 
measures than any other party would have favored and 
among others that '' rebel property ought to be confiscated 
and divided among soldiers and settlers." General Fre- 
mont, however, withdrew from the contest, in favor of Mr. 
Lincoln, when he saw the issue made between the Repub- 
lican Union party, and the Democratic Peace party. Not 
that he sympathized with Mr. Lincoln's administration, but 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINr.HAM. 865 

as between his party and the positions of the peace party 
he would aid the former.* 

The Democratic convention which nominated General 
McClellan was tainted with the peace-at-any-price doctrine. 
Its presiding officer was ex-Governor Seymour of New 
York, and its platform was largely shaped by Vallanding- 
ham. This platform while declaring " fidelity to the Union 
under the Constitution,'" asserts that the public welfare de- 
mands immediate efforts for a " cessation of hostilities, with 
a view to an ultimate convention of the States, or other 
peaceable means to the end that at the earliest practicable 
moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal 
Union of the States." In accepting the nomination, Mc- 
Clellan felt it necessary to dissent from that portion which 
implied that the war had been in vain. Secretary Seward 
said in a public speech after this convention had been held: 
*' Sherman and Farragut have knocked the bottom out of 
the Chicago nominations. The issue is thus squarely made 
up: McClellan and division, or Lincoln and Union." 

The Republican party, which had been the support of 
Mr. Lincoln's administration thus far through all the diffi- 
culties and perplexities of his strange position, and under 
whose guidance they seemed about to secure both union 
and freedom, and upon a basis not likely to be disturbed 
again, renominated him, of course, for the presidency, and 



*In his letter of withdrawal he said: "The presidential contest has in effect 
been entered upon in such a way that the union of the Republican party has be- 
come a permanent necessity. The policy of the Democratic party signifies either 
separation or re-establishment of slavery. The Chicago platform is simply sepa- 
ration. General McClellan"s letter of acceptance is re-establishment with slavery. 
The Republican candidate is, on the contrary, pledged to the re-establishment of 
the Union without slavery, and however hesitating his policy may be, the pressure 
of his party will, we may hope, force him to it. Between these issues, I think no 
man of the liberal party can remain in doubt, and I believe I am consistent with niy 
antecedents and my principles in withdrawing ; not to aid in the triumph of Mr. 
Lincoln, but to do my part in preventing the election of the Democratic candidate. 
In respect to Mr. Lincoln, I continue to hold exactly the sentiments contained in my 
letter of acceptance. I consider that his administration has been politically, mili- 
tarUy, and financially a failure, and that its necessary continuance is a cause of 
regret to the country." 



366 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, the fearless opponent of 
secession at the South, as Vice-President, The platform 
maintained the restoration of the Union, the paramount 
authority of the Constitution and laws of the United States, 
the suppression of the rebellion, the repudiation of com- 
promise with the insurgents, the abolition of slavery by 
constitutional amendment, the emancipation proclamation 
and the employment of negro soldiers, provision for soldiers- 
and sailors disabled by wounds, redress for the treatment 
of prisoners of war, both colored and white, the encourage- 
ment of immigration, the inviolability of the public debt, 
and the application of the Monroe doctrine. 

The autumn State elections, which preceded the presi- 
dential election, were watched with great interest, as indi- 
cating the direction and strength of public sentiment with 
reference to the matters at issue, and when Indiana, 
naturally a Democratic State, showed a change of 30,000 
votes in favor of the Republican ticket, partly due to the 
admirable conduct of Governor Morton, who, although 
originally a Democrat, had given magnificent support to 
Mr. Lincoln. Pennsylvania elected fifteen Republican con- 
gressmen to nine Democrats, in place of twelve to twelve as 
at the last election. Ohio gave a Republican majority of 
moro than 50,000, and Maryland, a slave State, adopted a 
new constitution, banishing slavery forever from her soil. 
Mr. Lincoln was re-elected by 212 electorial votes to 
21 for General McClellan. The latter carried only three 
States, and Mr. Lincoln's popular majority was 428,000. 
The signs of the times were plain to any one wlio 
could see. 

Then followed the next meeting of Congress, the reas- 
sembling of the Thirty-eighth Congress, December 6, 1864. 
And with all the important work upon their hands, in view 
of the evident determination of the North to close up this 
war, and guard against any recurrence of it from the cause 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 3t)7 

which led to it, they at once set about amending the Con- 
stitution so as to prohibit slavery forever. On this point 
the President, in his last annual message, had laid down his 
position as follows : " In presenting the abandonment of 
armed resistance to the national authority, on the part of 
the insurgents, as the only indispensable condition to ending 
the war on the part of the government, I retract nothing 
heretofore said as to' slavery. I repeat the declaration 
made a year ago, that ' while I remain in my present posi- 
tion 1 shall not attempt to retract or modify the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation, nor shall I return any person who is 
free by- the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the 
acts of Congress.' If the people should, by whatever mode 
or means, make it an executive duty to re-enslave such 
persons, another, and not I, must be their instrument to 
perform it." Difficult as it had properly been made to 
change the Constitution, requiring two-thirds of the Senate 
and of the House of Representatives, to submit such a 
change to the people, and then the ratification of the same 
by two-thirds of the States, yet the late elections had shown 
such a change in Congress, that the amendment was adopted 
both there and by the States separately. This all-impor- 
tant change in the Constitution of the United States was 
clearly and briefly expressed, and adopted as a concur- 
rent resolution, as presented by Mr. Trumbull of Illinois, 
chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, and 
was as follows: "Be it resolved, etc., that the following 
article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, 
as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 
which when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, 
shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the 
said Constitution, namely : — 

"ARTICLE XIII. 

" Section 1. — Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 



368 WILLIAM A. irjCKINGHAM. 

victed, shall exist witliiu the Unitt'd States, or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

"Sec. 2. — Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation." 

Thus the way was being fast prepared for the closing up 
of the war, and for the complete elimination out of our 
Constitution, politics, economics, and social life of what 
had always rested as a hindrance upon one-half the country 
in its proper development, and compelled the other half to 
reluctantly consent to its continuance for the sake of having 
one government, and one that recognized " the inalienable 
rights of every man to life, liberty, and pursuit of happi- 
ness," even though for the time such rights were denied to 
the slave. For the sake of such a democratic government 
and such a Union, to take the place of the old confederation 
of separate States, the free States had adopted the Consti- 
tution, and pledged themselves to leave slavery to the slave 
States, the slave States being equally pledged not to extend 
slavery into free territory, nor require of the North any 
legislation to extend and perpetuate the system. The South 
had violated its agreement again and again, but it was not 
imtil the Mexican war had been carried on to secure Texas 
for additional slave territory, and the Fugitive Slave Law 
passed to make us slave catchers, and the Kansas outrages 
perpetrated on free territory to keep out freemen as set- 
tlers, and the war of Secession begun because we would 
not submit to all such unreasonable demands, that public 
feeling became strong enough and general enough to con- 
tend successfully against the aggressive and disruptive 
policy of the South. It became a duty to make this in fact 
a self-governed and successful re])ublic based on the equal 
rights of all before the law. It was more than a duty ; it 
was nothing less than a providential opportunity, which 
had never come before and might never come again, and 
which patriots and philanthropists and God-fearing men 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 369 

could not disregard. Then, too, it was a peculiar Provi- 
dence which had raised up and put Abraham Lincoln at 
the head of the government at such a time, and two such 
commanders as Grant and Sherman at the head of our 
armies, all men so anxious for peace, and ready to bring it 
about in the easiest and most magnanimous terms. To 
this point were we being fast led, by " a Power not ourselves 
that makes for righteousness," which to most of us means 
God, the sovereign ruler of men, and which the rest rejoice 
in as the savino- force of the universe. 



CHAPTER XXII 

The Last Year of the War. 

Review of the Situation — Fight in Mobile Bay — Sherman in Georgia — 
Grant's Investment of Petersburg — Evacuation of Richmond — 
Decisive Battle at Sailor's Creek. 

The year 1865 opened auspiciously upon the political and 
military prospects of the Union government. Almost at 
its beginning Fort Fisher, which guarded the approaches to 
Wilmington, N. C, and had so long held out against the 
efforts of the government to either capture the fort or seal 
up the harbor against blockade running, was taken, and was 
designated as the place where Sherman's army would meet 
a fleet with supplies, and what additional land forces he 
might need after having made his " March to the Sea." A 
formidable fleet, under Admiral Porter, and a sufficient 
land force, under General Terry, both admirably conducted, 
captured that fortification, most like a " Malakoff " of any- 
thing in our war, and put it with all its supplies and free 
communication with the North, at the service of Sherman's 
approaching army.* It had been attempted before, but 
without success, and now when possession of this port was 
most needed to carry out with confidence Sherman's daring 
and complicated project, here it was, open to welcome him 
with re-enforcements and supplies, and one of his able 



* General Schofield, who was with Sherman's expedition as far as Atlanta, and 
was sent back from there to look after Hood on his way to Tennessee, and helped 
Thomas defeat him at N ashville, and pursued him until his army was thoroughly 
broken up and scattered, performed an important part in the capture of Wilminston 
and the surrounding region, and met his old commander there to help him finish up 
his campaign and be present to witness the surrender of Johnston's army in North 
Carolina. Indeed, it was one of the feats of the war, removing him and his iirmy 
corps of 15,000 men, with their artillery and l>ai;f;,'age, over a distancf of l.SOO miles 
by rail to Washington, and by sea to Wilmington, both within seventeen days. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 371 

and trusted commanders on hand to help him complete 
his victory, 

A little previous to this, Farragut had even surpassed his 
achievements at New Orleans and up the Mississippi, by 
reducing the forts of Mobile bay, and destroying the rebel 
ram being built there, before it could get out to play havoc 
with our wooden fleet. The Confederacy had proven itself 
remarkably skillful in constructing such vessels, and in 
defending its harbors by torpedoes. This bay was strongly 
defended by both, and Farragut had been impatiently wait- 
ing for a year for the government to furnish him with 
monitors enough, and a sufficient land force, to take posses- 
sion of this harbor. It was not until the summer of 1864 
that, with such means at his command, he went about his 
work. One of the most formidable rams ever built by 
the Confederacy — the Tennessee — was just finished, and 
might any day come out of the harbor and sweep away 
everything of wood. It was built upon the same plan 
as the Merrimac. which sank the Cumberland and blew 
up the Congress in Hampton bay, early in the war. It 
was commanded by Admiral Buchanan of the Confederate 
navy, who was in command of the Merrimac when she 
caused such consternation among all our fleets. The only 
defect about this ironclad was that its steering apparatus 
was not properly protected, and that it had insuffici'^^at 
machinery and steam power. Never had there been such a 
battle as this was to be. It was to be a fight between that 
sea monster, assisted by a few gunboats, on one side, and 
our eight wooden sloops of war, and a variety of other 
smaller vessels, on the other. The whole of the Union 
fleet must be driven through a nest of torpedoes. Admiral 
Farragut's plan of battle was to have each of his sloops of 
war attached, on the inside towards the forts, to one of the 
swift steamers, to increase her speed and drag her out of 
dano;er in case her own machinerv was disabled. His flaij- 



372 WJLLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

ship, the Hartford, was lashed on the inside to one of the 
double-enders, the Metacomet, and the admiral proposed to 
lead the advance, but was dissuaded from it by the unani- 
mous advice of his captains, and that position was assigned 
to his old flagship at New Orleans, the Brooklyn. The 
four monitors were to go a little in advance, and on the 
right of the wooden vessels. The six war sloops, with a 
steamer attached, were to follow. 



It was a clear, sunny August morning when a shell was exploded 
over Foi't Morgan, and within half an hour the fleet came within 
range and the tiring from the inside vessels became general, the fort 
and the Confederate fleet replying. The wooden vessels moved more 
rapidly than the monitors, and as the flagship came opposite the fort, 
and approached the torpedo line, she came nearly alongside of the 
rear monitor. Vo have kept on would have been to take the lead, 
with the ram Tennessee approaching, and with the unknown danger 
of the torpedoes underneath. At this critical moment the Brooklyn 
halted, and began backing and signaling. The flagship was imme- 
diately behind, and the following vessels were in close proximity, 
and the sudden stopping of the Brooklyn threatened to bring the 
whole fleet into collision, while the strong, inflowing tide was likely 
to carry some of the vessels ashore under the guns of the fort. The 
Brooklyn signaled, "The monitors are right ahead; we cannot go on 
without passing them." The reply was sent at once from the admiral, 
" Order the monitors ahead and go on.'" But still the Brooklyn halted, 
while to add to the horror of the situation, the monitor Tecumseh, a 
few hundred yards in advance, suddenly careened to one side and 
almost instantly sank to the bottom, carrying with her Captain 
Craven and the greater part of his crew, numbering in all 114 officers 
and men. Meantime the Brooklyn failed to go ahead, and the whole 
fleet became a stationary point-blank target for the guns of the fort 
and of the rebel vessels. It was during these few perilous moments 
that the most fatal work of the day was done to the fleet. Owing to 
the Hartford's position, only her few bow guns could be used, while 
a deadly rain of shot and shell was falling on her, and her men were 
being cut down by scores, unable to make reply The sight on deck 
was sickening beyond the power of words to portray. Shot after 
shot came through the side, mowing down the men, deluging the 
decks with blood, and scattering mangled fragments of humanity so 
thickly that it was difficult to stand on deck, so slippery was it. At 
one gun all the crew on one side were swept down by a shot which 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 373 

came crashing through the bulwarks. A shell burst between the two 
forward guns in charge of Lieutenant Tyson, killing and wounding 
lifteen men.— [" War Book,'' Vol. IV, p. 390. 

Soon after the fight began, Admiral Farragut climbed to 
the masthead to obtain a view above the fog and smoke. 
At the urgent request of Captain Drayton he consented to 
be lashed to the rigging as a precaution against falling, if 
he should be wounded. While he remained there the mast 
was once struck by a heavy shell, but it failed to explode. 
When the Tennessee arrived and headed for the flagship, 
she was struck amidship by the Monongahela, one of our 
heaviest vessels, furnished with a ram, but the blow made 
no impression. She was also struck by the Lackawanna, 
but kept on her course for the Hartford, meantime putting 
two shots through her latest assailant. When she ap- 
proached the Hartford this vessel steamed to meet her bow 
on. At the last moment the rebel ram swerved slightly, 
and the vessels rubbed against each other as they passed. 
A broadside was poured into the ram but did no harm. 
One shot from her passed through the berth deck, killing 
five men. All the Union vessels were now making for the 
Tennessee, firing balls against her which did no damage 
and attempting to run her down. One of them managed 
to run into the Hartford and did some damage. The whole 
fleet pursued the ram. and the shots were directed at her 
stern what was not fully protected by armor. At last a 
shot cut one of her rudder chains and made her unmanage- 
able. Her commander was badly wounded, and as another 
ship was about to strike her she surrendered. 

This sea fight was the last and most formidable of the 
war ; for this was the supreme eli'ort of the Confederacy 
to protect her harbors by rams and torpedoes. This was 
another of the struggles between monitors and ironclads, 
which was to revolutionize the whole science and art of 
marine warfare over the world. A full and graphic account 



•374 WILLIAM A. lUJCKINCHAM. 

of this fight is found in Lieutenant J. C. Kinney's article in 
the ^'Century Company's War Book," (Vol. IV, p. 379), 
the most exact, complete and graphic description of that 
important naval operation to be found anywhere. Lieu- 
tenant Kinney was an officer in the Thirteenth Connecticut 
Infantry, and was Admiral Farragut's signal officer, fur- 
nished to communicate with the land forces. He was 
stationed with him on the crosstrees of the fore-topmast of 
his ship, and tells how he came to be there, and how the 
admiral came to be tied to the rigging 100 feet above the 
deck. It is a fine representation of that grand old hero in 
such a stress of circumstances, and can be relied upon in 
its minutest particulars. 

Returning now to General Sherman, we find that after 
taking Savannah in the Christmas time of 1864, he remained 
about a month to refresh his army, communicate with the 
fleet and get supplies, especially of clothing for the troops. 
It had not yet been decided whether he should be allowed 
to follow his own plan and go north by land. He made 
further appeal for authority to do this. He wrote to Gen- 
eral Grant : "• I know that this march is necessary to the 
war. It must be made sooner or later, and I am in the 
proper position for it. I ask no re-enforcements, but simply 
wish the utmost activity at all other points, so that the 
enemy may not concentrate too powerfully against me. I 
expect Davis will move heaven and earth to resist me, for 
the success of my army is fatal to his dream of empire. 
Richmond is not more vital to the cause than Columbia." 

At last consent was obtained, and he set out through the 
Carolinas by way of Wilmington. Charleston he counted 
of no consequence. The army moved January 15, 1865, 
the same day on which Fort Fisher was taken. Almost at 
the outset it was embarrassed by heavy rains. The columns 
were almost submerged in the soaked rice fields, a cause- 
way was washed away, the swamps became lakes of slimy 



WILLIAM A. HUrKINOHAM. 375 

mud, and it was not until the first week in February that 
the whole army was on the other side of the river. The 
march thenceforth was not unlike that through Georgia. 
The army moved in two columns, thirty miles apart, fol- 
lowed the lines of railroad and destroyed them, and diverted 
the enemy by feints on places never meant to be attacked. 
It is curious to notice that Charleston, the place where 
Secession was nourished as a political principle, and where 
treason had been hatched and the war forced on the country, 
was now thought of so little importance that a conquering 
army would not turn aside to deal with it as with other 
places. The Confederates, however, saw that it could not 
resist if attacked, and withdrew, burning part of the city as 
they retired. The Union troops made no attempt to occupy 
it, but turned abruptly to the north, thus disclosing the real 
purpose of the expedition. The objective point now was 
Columbia, the capital of the State, one of the most 
beautiful towns of the South, and noted for the number 
of public buildings and educational institutions. It was 
occupied by Wade Hampton's cavalry and a small force 
besides. The force was not large enough to offer successful 
resistance, and as Sherman's army approached, the place 
was evacuated and the more important buildings destroyed. 
The cotton had been carried into the streets, the bags cut, 
and at the proper time it was set on fire and, blown by a 
strong wind, carried flames everywhere. Sherman made 
great efforts to save private houses and protect families.* 



* This inhuman and senseless act was charged upon General Sherman and his 
troops, to which he replies : " 1 disclaim on the part of my army any agency in this 
fire, but on the contrary claim that we saved what of Columbia remains uncon- 
samed. And without hesitation I charge General Wade Hampton with having 
burned his own city of Columbia, not with a malicious intent, or as the manifesta- 
tion of a silly ' Roman stoicism,' but from folly and want of sense in filling it with 
lint, cotton, and tinder. Our officers and men on duty worked well to extinguish 
the flames. But others not on duty, inchidiug the officers who hud long been im- 
prisoned there, rescued by us, may have assisted in spreading the fire after it had 
once begun, and may have indulged in unconcealed .joy to see tlie ruin of the capi- 
tal of South Carolina." 



376 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

From Columbia northward, General Sherman was not to 
expect so little resistance. For Hood's failure to hinder 
Sherman's operations had compelled President Davis to 
remove him, and restore General Johnston to his old com- 
mand. He was now in North Carolina, collecting all the 
troops from every quarter that the Confederacy could fur- 
nish, to check Sherman's onward march and prevent a junc- 
tion with Grant. Hardee was with him, and the troops with- 
drawn from Charleston. So were the troops withdrawn 
from Columbia. The local garrisons and militia of North 
Carolina, re-enforced to some extent from Lee's army, were 
also with him. And this force was awaiting the arrival of 
the remnants of the Confederate Army of the Tennessee, 
though the railroads had been so broken up, and the whole 
track of Sherman's army so stripped of supplies, that it 
wns found difficult to secure many from that quarter.* 
Besides Sherman had just passed by the remnants of a Con- 
federate corps, and effectually cut them off from rendering 
any assistance. Still General Johnston had probably, after 
Hampton joined him, a force of 24,000 veterans, and was 
expecting more.f And with Johnston's well-known ability 
and caution, which his opponent well understood and 
respected, he was not likely to encounter him with his 
forces scattered, or be taken at any disadvantage. He 
made short stay at Columbia, and was soon pushing on 



♦This state of things in tlie line of Sherman's march was well expressed by the 
soldiers : " A crow could not fly from Atlanta to Savannah without a haversack," 

+"The Military Biography of Sherman and his Campaigns," says : " These forces, 
when once united, would constitute an army probably superior to Sherman's in 
cavalry and formidable enough in artillery and infantry to justify him in extreme 
caution, in taking the last step necessary to complete the march.'' General Lee 
had just sent Johnston .5,000 cavalry under Wade Hampton, to which Wheeler had 
been added, with perhaps a corresponding number ; two of the ablest and most to 
be feared commanders in tliat branch of the Confederate service, who were not to 
be encountered by any number of invaders without danger. Kilpatrick, (ieneral 
Sherman's cavalry leader, well known to him and viilued in such service, had a force 
of 5,068 men, including a sis-gun battery of horse artillery, and a small brigade of 
dismounted men, so that the encounters between these forces alone were frcciueut 
and desperate, and sometimes amounted to important battles. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 377 

through North Carolina as if he expected to reach Virginia 
and help Grant close up the war there. But at what point 
he would approach Virginia, whether at Charlotte on the 
west, connecting directly with the Danville railroad to 
Richmond, the one by which Lee at last tried to escape 
from Grant, or at Goldsboro near the coast, and connecting 
with Wilmington, which had just been opened by our fleet 
and army to receive him, could not be ascertained. That 
this port was opened was not known to him then, for though 
Fort Fisher, which defended Wilmington, had been recently 
reduced, it was not known that the bay and city were acces- 
sible until he was almost there. He adhered to his favorite 
plan of dividing the Confederate forces resisting him, by 
moving one wing of his army toward Charlotte, and press- 
ing far on in that direction, and then turning both wings 
abruptly toward Goldsboro, where he found more troops 
awaiting him, and all needful supplies. To arrive there, 
however, he had been obliged to do some pretty heavy fight- 
ing, which not every commander with the same force could 
have come out of so well. 

Some of the most critical and serious of these fightings 
in North Carolina were between the cavalry forces of the 
two armies, as Sherman was approaching Fayetteville. 
General Kirkpatrick once found himself in the middle of 
General Hampton's whole force, lost many men and barely 
escaped himself on foot. The most serious battle was at 
Bentonville, where a Confederate force of 40,000 fought 
what was really the decisive battle of the campaign, since 
its issue decided whether Sherman should reach Goldsboro 
and secure his connection with the North by sea at Wil- 
mington. Johnston's purpose was to crush Slocum's left 
wing of the army before Howard's right wing could assist 
it. The two divisions had been drawn nearer together than 
usual with a view to such a possibility. Six successive 
assaults were successfully resisted and then Johnston with- 



378 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

drew and entrenched himself to await attaci< in turn. 
Here he was outflanked hy Sherman, taken in the rear and 
obliged to retreat to Raleigh so hastily that his pickets 
were left behind. This last battle was fought March 19, 
1866. and Sherman then moved on to Goldsboro. General 
Sherman, after a hasty visit to Generals Terry and Scho- 
field, took the first train of cars that ran to Morehead and 
thence a swift steamer to City Point, where he met in coun- 
cil the President, Generals Grant, Meade, etc., returning as 
hurriedlv to his army at Goldsboro, which he reached on 
March 30. 

Strange as it may seem, our government had heard 
nothing from him since he left Savannah, the middle of 
January, and he had not learned that Fort Fisher had been 
captured, nor that Wilmington was occupied by our forces, 
nor that Schofield, one of his old commanders, and one of 
his army corps had been transferred to Wilmington to 
re-enforce him, and a fleet to reclothe his ragged troops. 
It was not until a week or two before, as he was approach- 
ing this part of the coast, that he sent two trusty scouts 
through the enemy's country, to apprise the commander of 
the Union forces on that coast, wherever he might be found, 
of his whereabouts and success. " We are all well, and 
have done finely ; details are for obvious reasons omitted," 
was the brief and satisfactory message they bore. It was 
thought important enough to be spread before the country 
in an official bulletin from the Secretary of War. 

Meantime General Grant, after the l)attles of the Wilder- 
ness, had continued to plan and execute operations which 
were no longer disconnected and almost haphazard, but 
parts of one coherent theory of the conduct of the war. 
Thus the reduction of Fort Fisher, and the occupation of 
Wilmington and Newbern, were to give Sherman re-enforce- 
ments and supplies if he should ever get so far north on 
his venturesome expedition. Mobile bay also had been 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 379 

opened, after a desperate struggle and great cost, to have 
another fleet and land forces meet him there. General 
Schofield and his army division had been transported with 
railroad speed from Tennessee, and down the coast by 
transports, to repair Sherman's losses when he should have 
reached the end of his long and dangerous march. At the 
same time Grant had kept up his vigorous operations 
around Petersburg and Richmond, that Lee should not 
re-enforce Johnston too liberally when the crisis was com- 
ing. This was all done with a liberality and unselfish 
devotion in painful contrast with some of our previous 
commanders. The confidence and devotion to each other's 
welfare, and disposition to ascribe to others no small share 
of their own success, which characterized the officers of our 
army and of our navy at the close of the war, was most 
honorable to both branches of the service. 

In addition to the naval operations of 1864, and the suc- 
cessful expedition of General Sherman. General Grant had 
planned and successfully carried out another, in forever 
removing all further trouble from the Shenandoah valley. 
This was the garden and storehouse of Virginia, and as it 
was so well protected by mountains on both sides, and ran 
up so directly into Maryland and Pennsylvania, it not only 
furnished supplies for any Northern expedition, but was 
also the gateway to both those States, and was always hold- 
ing out a temptation to s'-me Northern invasion, as it did 
to Lee when he invaded Pennsylvania and fought the battle 
of Gettysburg in 1863, and to Early when he invaded Mary- 
land and threatened Washington in 1864. To clear the 
valley of Confederate forces, and destroy its supplies so 
that no army could subsist there, Sheridan had been sent, 
and there he had contended successfully with General Jubal 
A. Early, one of the ablest of the Confederate commanders, 
and seemingly put an end to all further trouble from that 
quarter. He had only just rested and remounted his cavalry 



380 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

force, when he returned to Grant in the spring of 1865, to 
do his great work in cutting off the flight of Lee's army 
and compelling his surrender. Probably there never was 
a finer body of cavalry organized in our war than this, 
9,000 strong and made up of veterans. 

The investment of Petersburg, to which General Grant 
devoted himself so diligently after the close of the Wilder- 
ness Ccimpaign, was virtually the investment of Richmond, 
the Confederate capital. They were only a little more than 
twenty miles apart, the one at the head of navigation on 
the James river, and the other a few miles up the Appo- 
mattox, above its junction with the James. With these 
were connected the whole system of Southern railroads 
and the James river canal, upon which both cities were 
dependent for their daily supplies, and without which Gen- 
eral Lee's army could not have been kept in the field for a 
fortnight. This was the object of so many cavalry raids 
in the rear of Lee's army, to break up those railroads and 
destroy that canal, and it was owing to the thoroughness 
with which it had been done, that both Richmond and 
Petersburg were finally evacuated and Lee surrendered. 
Thus General Grant says : — 

The operations in fiont of Petersburg and Richmond through the 
winter and until the spring campaign of 1865 commenced, were con- 
fined to the defense and extension, of our lines, and to offensive move- 
ments for crippling the enemy's lines of communication, and to 
prevent his detaching any considerable force to send South. And 
after the long march of General Sheridan's cavalry from the Shenan- 
doah valley over wintry roads, it was necessary to rest and refit at 
White House. At this time the greatest source of uneasiness to me 
was the fear that the enemy would leave his strong lines about Peters- 
burg and Richmond, for the purpose of uniting with .Johnston, before 
he was driven out of his defenses by battle, or I was prepared to 
make an effectual pursuit. 

It was not until the 27th of March that Sheridan joined 
Grant before Petersburg, and within a fortnight had the 
satisfaction and the honor of arresting the whole Confed- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 381 

erate armv in its attempted flight, and affording Grant 
such aid in compelling its surrender. 

It was not, however, without a final and desperate strug- 
gle that the end came. All through the summer and winter 
of 1864, the investment of Petersburg had been kept up with 
vigor. The country around the city for a dozen miles was 
covered with forts, earthworks and trenches, and the two 
armies had pushed them so near each other that in places 
they were not more than fifty yards apart, and it was diffi- 
cult to expose a head or a hand over an embankment with- 
out drawing the fire of the enemy. Early in the invest- 
ment an efi^ort had been made on our part to mine and 
blow up some of the principal fortifications. The miserable 
success of that explosion, and the useless loss of life to 
which it subjected us, forbid any repetition of such an 
experiment. The work was thereafter carried on until the 
next spring by the most wearisome and anxious life in the 
trenches. And it was not until the last of March, 1865, 
that, in the struggle to take and to retain those strong 
works, the Confederacy gave way, and was compelled to 
abandon its defenses and meet our superior army in the 
open field. 

It will always be a marvel that the Confederate States, 
with their unequal population and resources, no foreign 
commerce, and their financial credit all gone, could have 
carried on such a war so long and so vigorously almost to 
the last. With riiore wisdom, and without that insane idea 
of establishing a great slave empire, it never could have 
been done. The defeat at Gettysburg, the re-election of Mr. 
Lincoln in 1864 by an unprecedented majority, the utter 
defeat of the peace party in the North, the pouring in of 
men and money to repair the awful waste of the late cam- 
paigns, all these were indications that the struggle of the 
South had become hopeless. 

General Grant's anxiety lest General Lee should endeavor 



^82 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

to break through the line of entrenchments around Peters- 
burg and escape, was not without reason, for on the night 
of March 24 the Conlederate General Gordon made a vig- 
orous and successful assault upon our lines where they 
were nearest to the enemy, and when desertion from the 
enemy to our lines was of daily occurrence. Taking 
advantage of this and of the darkness of the night, the 
commanding general sent out his pickets with their arms, 
scattered over the whole intervening space, until they came 
creeping up to our pickets from every quarter, as so many 
deserters had done when our men found that they themselves 
were prisoners in the hands of the enemy, and sent to the 
rear as such. This was all done so quietly and successfully, 
that our men within the main lines and back of their pickets 
were not aware of it, until considerably later in the night 
there came a powerful charge upon that portion of our 
lines, which captured Fort Stedman and the adjacent 
battery, turned their guns upon their own men, and secured 
all the arms and troops in them. Continuing the charge, 
they carried two other batteries. Lee was concentrating 
not less than 20,000 of his troops, almost one-half of his 
army, upon that point, and had there not been unexpected 
delay in bringing them up, he would doubtless have suc- 
ceeded in his purpose. But fortunately General Parke, in 
command of the Ninth Corps, became aware of the situa- 
tion, and, acting with promptness and vigor, he gathered a 
large number of pieces of artillery and- planted them in 
the rear of the captured works, so as to thoroughly sweep 
the narrow space of ground between the lines, and the 
enemy could neither advance nor retreat. In fact two of 
our divisions headed the rebels off in one direction, where 
they were charging most successfully, and drove them back 
into Fort Stedman, and then recaptured their own forts 
and entrenchments and all that was within them. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 383 

The artilleiy fire was kept up so continuously that it was impossi- 
ble for the Confederates to retreat, and equally impossible for re-en- 
forcements to join them. They all therefore fell captives into our 
hands. This effort of Lee cost him about 4,000 men, and resulted in 
their killinjj, wounding and capturing about 2,000 of ours. — [" Grant's 
Memoira,^'' Vol. II, p. 4:>1 

Now came the last Confederate attempt to escape, and its failure. 
General Grant had issued orders to his commanders to be drawing in 
around Petersburg, and be within supporting distance when this 
should happen, as it must. And the very night that the successful 
Confederate assault was made upon Fort Stedman, these orders had 
been issued and were being responded to with alacrity. On the 
morning of Wednesday, the 29th of March, the advance movement 
was to be made, and at 9 A. m. General Grant and his staff took the 
cars from City Point for the front, eighteen miles distant. President 
Lincoln was there, having come down to confer with his generals in 
regard to this critical movement. General Sherman had also left his 
army in North Carolina, and hurried up from Wilmington for such a 
conference, and returned. The President accompanied General Grant 
to the train, and as he stepped on board, the President stood grasping 
the iron rod at the rear of the car, and saying: "I wish I could go 
with you." The cavalry under Cook and Merritt moved off in two 
columns, and at night reached Dinwiddle Courthouse. The infantry 
under Warren, Humphreys, Ord, Wright and Parke, and in this order 
from left to right, extended without a break from Dinwiddle Court- 
house to the Appomattox. Lee was at Five Forks, where several 
roads intersected, and was posted as follows: Ewell commanded the 
garrison in Richmond; Longstreet below that city, north of the 
.James, and across the river nearly to Petersburg; Gordon was at 
Petersburg, and Hill south and west of that place. From the night 
of the 29th to the morning of the 31st, the rain fell in such torrents as 
to make it impossible to move wheeled vehicles except as corduroyed 
roads were laid in fi-ont of them. Sheridan, however, during the 30th 
had advanced from Dinwiddle Courthouse toward Five Forks, where 
he found the enemy in force. Lee had stripped the Petersburg en- 
trenchments as much as he could with safety, and obtained on the 
31st a force of about ■.^0,000, chiefly the divisions of Pickett and .Johns- 
ton, to meet the threatened attack. This extension of his lines 
toward Five Forks had weakened Lee's left, and it was the discovery 
of it which led Wright and Parke to report that they could assault 
successfully. — [Draper' .s " Civil War,'^ Vol. Ill, p. .570. 

It was these attacks made by Grant and Sheridan upon 
the Confederates, March 31 and April 1, which were the 
mo.st critical of the campaign, and caused them both the 



384 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

most anxiety. The danger was that infantry enough could 
not be brought up in time to support Sheridan's cavalry. 
There were 10,000 of them, " natty fellows, with tight- 
fitting uniforms, short jackets, and small magazine car- 
bines, swarming through the pine thickets and dense 
undergrowth, and looking as if they had been especially 
equipped for crawling through knot-holes." They could 
sweep over the country for any distance around, and leave 
their horses behind and fight as infantry, and hold a large 
infantry force at bay for a considerable time, but with the 
advantages of the solid infantry organizations, and the 
abundant artillery which such an organization usually pos- 
sesses, they are at a great disadvantage, as Sheridan now 
found, when so many of the latter were massed before him, 
and his own infantry supports so slow in coming up. He 
probably never had harder work, or experienced more 
anxiety in all his military service, and the result was the 
highest tribute that could be paid, not only to his dauntless 
courage and desperate fighting, but to his quick perceptions 
and just judgment, and complete self-control, which made 
no mistakes in this critical campaign, and which has led 
military critics to regard it as one of the best planned and 
best fought battles of the war. 

On the morning of that last day of March, the enemy was 
reported as entrenching themselves at Five Forks, near 
Dinwiddle Courthouse. General Grant had ordered up 
the infantry to support Sheridan, but the weather was so 
bad, and such was the difficulty in moving infantry and 
artillery, that they were slow in reaching him, and be- 
fore they did reach him he found himself vigorously re- 
sisted. General Grant hurried to the front, and dispatched 
General Porter, one of his staff, to Sheridan, to inform him 
what was being done for his support. General Porter 
reached Sheridan, who said that he had had " one of the 
liveliest days in his experience, fighting infantry and cav- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 385 

alrj with cavalry only, but that he was concentrating his 
command on the high ground just north of Dinwiddie, and 
would hold that position at all hazards." But he begged 
Porter to go back to General Grant at once, and urge him 
to send the Sixth Corps " because it had been under him in 
the battles in the Valley of Virginia, and knew his way of 
fighting." This corps, however, could not be spared, and 
he was promised the Fifth. 

The night of March 31 was spent by Grant, Meade and 
Sheridan in hastening preparations for the battle of the 
next day, when Grant hoped for an opportunity of " fight- 
ing the enemy's infantry outside of its fortifications." 
The assault was made by the Fifth Corps, which had borne 
the brunt of the fighting ever since the movement began. 
After desperate fighting and heavy loss, the earthworks 
were carried with a rush. Sheridan had been chafing with 
impatience, dismounting his horse, and pacing up and 
down, saying : " This battle must be fought and won 
before the sun goes down. All the conditions may be 
changed by morning and we have only a few hours of 
sunlight left. My cavalry are fast using up their ammu- 
nition, and if the attack is delayed they will soon have 
none left." More officers were sent off to hurry up the 
columns, and it was 9 o'clock before the formation was 
complete, the order for assault given, and the struggle 
for the entrenched lines begun. Here was to be encoun- 
tered the same intrepid fighter who made such des- 
perate charges upon our lines at Gettysburg, and whom 
Sheridan had found it so difficult to drive out of the Shen- 
andoah valley. It was then that Sheridan called for his 
crimson-and-white battle flag, and in his cheery, bantering 
way led his troops — " Come on, men I Go at 'em ! They 
are getting ready to run ! " — and turned the tide of battle in 
their favor. " That line of weather-beaten veterans moved 
right along the slope toward the woods, whence batteries 



386 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

were mowing them down with a steady swing that boded 
no good to Pickett's command, earthworks or no earth- 
works," while he himself on his favorite black horse, Rienzi, 
that cari'ied him from Winchester to Cedar creek, which 
Buchanan Read has made famous for all time as " Sheri- 
dan's Kide," had dashed on over the very earthworks of 
the destructive " Angle," and plunged into a crowd of pris- 
oners who had thrown away their arms and were hiding 
there for shelter. That was the end of the war so nearly 
reached, as the whole army understood it, and as General 
Poi'ter says : " Sheridan had that day fought one of the 
most interesting technical battles of the war, almost per- 
fect in conception, brilliant in execution, strikingly dra- 
matic in its incidents, and productive of important results." 



CHAPTER XXTIl. 

Surrender of the Two Priucip.il Confederate Armies — Negotiations 
^or Surrender — Difficulties iu the Way Made Unconditional — Mag- 
nanimity of the Union Commanders — Its Appreciation by the 
Confederates — No More Fighting — The Relief of the South — The 
Joy of the North. 

The time had come for Lee's surrender. He had staked 
everything upon this last battle and lost, when he with- 
drew all his troops from Petersburg- and the neighboring 
forts, so long the stronghold of the Confederacy ; abandoned 
Richmond, after destroying half the city, that he might 
gather force enough to sweep away Grant and Sherman 
from the pathway of his flight — when "flight had become 
impossible, and nothing remained to put a stop to the 
bloody slaughter, but to throw down their arms and be- 
come captives, and Ewell, with eleven of his general offi- 
cers, including the ablest of them, and about all his gallant 
army that survived were prisoners, and in this battle more 
men were captured in actual conflict, without negotiation, 
than on any other field in America;" and when Sheridan, 
the night before the surrender, had captured their last train 
of supplies, and Lee begged at once for rations, saying, 
" My own men have lived for the past few days principally 
upon parched corn, and we are badly in need of both 
rations and forage," the end had certainly come, not 
only to that long and terrible campaign against Richmond, 
but to the war. Within ten days after that battle of 
" Sailor's Creek," the whole army of Northern Virginia had 
surrendered to General Grant upon his own conditions, of 
"unconditional surrender," to be followed at once by the 



388 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

surrender of Johnston's Southern army, the flight of Presi- 
dent Davis, and the complete dissolution of the whole Con- 
federacy. 

General Porter, who was upon Grant's staff at this time 
and present in these operations, gives a particular account 
of the occurrences and negoti;itions that related to the sur- 
render. (" War Book," Vol. IV, p. 728.) " It was a little 
before noon on the 7th of April, 1865, that General Grant 
and his staff rode into the little village of Farmville, on the 
south side of the Appomattox river, and, dismounting at the 
village hotel, established headquarters on its broad piazza. 
One of our prisoners, formerly of the regular army, and a 
relative of General Ewell, had told General Grant the night 
before that Ewell said the cause was lost, and that they 
ought to negotiate for peace. This statement, together with 
the news received from Sheridan, saying that he had heard 
that General Lee's trains of provisions which had come by 
rail were at Appomattox, and that he expected to capture 
them before they could reach Lee, led him to address to 
Lee the following communication " : — 

Headquakters, Akmies of the U. S., I 
.5 P. M,, April 7, 1865. ( 

General R. E. Lee, Commandinfi C. S. A. : 

The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness 
of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia 
in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift 
from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by 
asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate army 
known as the Army of Northern Virginia. 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General. 
General Lee replies : — 

April 7. 18(5.'). 

General,: — I have received your note of this date. Though not 
entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further 
resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia. 1 reciprocate 
your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before 
considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on con- 
dition of its surrender. K. E. Lee, General. 

Lieut. Gen. IT. S. Grant, Commanding .Armies of the U. S. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 389 

The answer was as follows : — 

April 8, 1865. 
Gknekal R. E. Lee, Commanding C. iS. A. ; 

Tour note of last evening, in reply to mine of the same date, ask- 
ing the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army 
of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply I would say that 
peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist 
upon, namely, that the men and officers surrendered shall be dis- 
qualified for taking up arms against the government of the United 
States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate 
officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at 
any point agreeable to you. for the purpose of arranging definitely 
the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia will be received. U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General. 

Then came the following : — 

April 8, 1865. 

General: — I received at a late hour your note of to-day. In mine 
of yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of 
Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be 
frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the sur- 
render of this army, but as the restoration of peace should be the sole 
object of all, I desired to know whether your proposals would lead to 
that end. I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the 
Army of Northern Virginia; but as far as your proposal may affect 
the Confederate State forces under my command, and tend to the 
restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet j'ou at 10 o'clock 
A.M. to-morrow, on the old stage road to Richmond, between the 
picket lines of the two armies. R. E. Lee, General. 

Lieutenant General U. S. Grant. 

Very early in the morning was prepared and dispatched 
the following reply : — 

April 9, 1865. 

General: — Your note of yesterday is received. I have no authority 
to treat on the subject of peace. The meeting proposed for 10 o'clock 
to-day could lead to no good. I will state, however, that I am equally 
desirous of peace with yourself, and the whole North entertains the 
same feeling. The terms upon whicb peace can be had are well under- 
stood. By the South laying down their arms, they would hasten that 
most desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of 
millions of property not yet destroyed. Seriously hoping that all our 
difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe 
myself, etc., U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General. 

Genekal R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A. 



390 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The " peace " which General Lee wanted and which Gen- 
eral Grant replies that he has no authority to deal with, refers 
to the permission sought for, to have the Virginia Legislature 
calli^d together, and allowed to reorganize the State govern- 
ment on its old foundations. This was a condition which 
President Lincoln and General Grant were disposed to 
allow at first, until they were overruled by the other depart- 
ments of the government, particularly the War Depart- 
ment. And well that it was prevented, for under that 
permission the Confederate Legislature and State would 
have acquired their old position in the Union, and nobody 
need have suffered any punishment for treason, and they 
might even have chosen Jefferson Davis for their governor. 

General Lee had proposed to General Grant not long before to 
arrange with him to "submit the subjects of controversy between 
the belligerents to a convention," etc., and there came back at once 
these instructions : 

[cypher.] 
Office, United States Military Telegraph, ) 
Headquarters. Armies of the United States. ) 

Lieutenant General Grant: 

The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have 
no conference with General Lee unless it be for the capitulation of 
Lee's army on solely minor and purely military matters. He instructs 
me to say that you are not to decide, or discuss, or confer vipon any 
political question. Such questions the President holds in his own 
hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conven- 
tions. Meantime you are to press to the utmost your military 
advantages. 

Edward M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 
— [" War Book," Vol. IV, p. 756. 

The same morning General Lee received General Grant's 
last note refusing to communicate with him upon any sub- 
ject e.xcept immediate and imconditional surrender. Lee 
replied that he would meet him on the picket line at once 
for "an interview, in accordance with the offer made in 
your letter of yesterday, for that purpose." And at half- 
past one on that Sunday afternoon, the 9th of April, the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 391 

two generals, each with his staff, and some general officers 
aVjout him, took possession of the " WcClean house" at Af>- 
pomattox Courthouse, and soon arranged in the frankest 
manner, and to their mutual satisfaction, all the particulars 
of the surrender. At General Lee's request. General Grant 
drew up the paper in the form of a letter from himself to 
the Confederate commander, to be commented upon as it 
was read. The document was as follows : — 

Appomattox Couethoube, Va., April 9, 1865. 
Genki:ai. R. E. Lee, Commanding €. S. A.: 

Genkkal: — In accordance witb the substance of my letter to yon of 
the 8th iiiKt., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of North- 
em Virginia on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers 
and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to 
be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or offi- 
cers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual pa- 
roles not to take up arms against the government of the United States 
until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental com- 
mander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The 
arms, artillery and public property to bo packed and stacked, and 
turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This 
will not embrace the side arms of the officers, nor their private 
horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed 
to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United States 
authorities so long .is they observe their paroles, and the laws in 
force where they may reside. Very respectfully, 

U. S. Gean't, Lieutenant General. 

When Lee came to the sentence about the "officers side- 
arms, private horses and baggage," he showed for the first 
time during the reading a slight change of countenance, 
and was evidently touched by this act of generosity. It 
was doubtless the condition mentioned to which he par- 
ticularly alluded, when he turned towards General Grant as 
he finished reading and said with some degree of warmth in 
his manner : " This will have a very happy effect upon my 
army." He then said that he would like to mention one 
thing: "The cavalrymen and artillerists own their own 
horses in our army. I would like to understand whether 



392 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

these men will be permitted to retain their horses? You 
will find the terms as written do not allow this." General 
Grant replied : " Only the officers are permitted to take 
their private property." Lee read over the second page of 
the letter again, and then said : " No, I see the terms do 
not allow it, that is clear." His face showed plainly that he 
was quite anxious to have this concession made, and Grant 
said, without giving him time to make a direct request: 
"Well, the subject is quite new to me. Of course I did not 
know that any private soldiers owned their animals, but I 
think this will be the last battle of the w-ar, I sincerely 
hope so, and that the surrender of this army will be fol- 
lowed soon by that of all the others. And I take it that 
most of the men in the ranks are small farmers, and as the 
country has been so raided by the two armies, it is doubtful 
if they will be able to put in a crop to carry themselves and 
their families through the next winter, without the aid of 
the horses they are now riding. So I will arrange it in 
this way, I will not change the terms as now written, but I 
will instruct the otficers 1 shall appoint to receive the pa- 
roles to let all the men who claim to own a horse or a mule, 
take the animals home with them to work their little farms." 
Lee looked up greatly relieved, and though anything but a 
demonstrative man, he gave evidence of his appreciation of 
this concession, and said : " This will have the best possi- 
ble effect upon the men. It will be very gratifying, and 
will do much toward conciliating our people." 

General Lee was indeed in absolute extremity, and thus 
speaks of his need of immediate relief; " I have a thousand 
or more of your men as prisoners, General Grant, a great 
number of them officers whom we have recjuired to march 
along with us for several days. I shall be glad to send 
them into your lines as soon as it can be arranged, for I 
have no provisions for them. I have, indeed, nothing for 
my own men." As he had said beiore, " They have been 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 393 

living for the past few days principally upon parched corn, 
and we are badly in need of both rations and forage. I tele- 
graphed to Lynchburgh, directing several train loads of 
rations to be sent on by rail from there, and when they arriye 
I shall be glad to have the present wants of my men supplied 
from them.'' At this remark, it is said, all eyes turned 
toward Sheridan, for he had captured these trains with his 
cavalry, the night before, near Appomattox station. 

The end, of course, had come to this campaign and to 
this army. For men cannot fight unless they are fed, how- 
ever brave and patient they may be. And this accounts 
for the strange fact that only 8,000 of Lee's men were 
paroled and laid down their arms, when he asked for 25,000 
rations, and over 28,000 surrendered. He said, to be sure, 
that he had a thousand or more of our prisoners, who had 
been suffering the same hardships. But the effective 
strength of Lee's army at the beginning of this campaign, 
and as engaged in the desperate operations of the last 
fortnight was 54,000, according to oflBcial estimates. And 
Grant had captured within that time 19,132 of them, be- 
sides the dead, wounded and missing (" War Book," Vol. 
IV, p. 753). Deducting these from Lee's whole force, and 
considering that discouraged and starving men might well 
throw away their arms, the few that were surrendered is 
reasonable enough. But it shows their desperate condition, 
and the condition of their cause. 

Now if there could have been anything better than food 
to such starving men, or than relief to such disheartened 
souls, it must have been the consideration and magnanimity 
shown them by the President, General Grant, and the rank 
and file of the army they had been fighting, and the general 
sympathy of the whole North. The wound had been deep, 
and seemingly fatal, but this pouring in oil and wine and 
anxiety to heal it, was enough to make a dead man live 
again, and love such friends. The commander-in-chief 



394 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

putting a stop to the firing of cannon over the surrender, 
and repressing every form of exultation, while the blue and 
the gray were sitting down together and sharing each 
other's rations, became the brightest omen of our future. 

We now turn to the Southern army under Johnston, with 
which Lee had failed to unite, and which must itself sur- 
render. Determined to prevent Johnston from pushing on 
to the relief of Lee, as Grant was bent on preventing Lee 
from reaching Johnston, General Sherman resolved to head 
off the enemy in that direction, and compel him either to 
surrender at once, or fight a last and decisive battle. So 
he issued a confidential order to his corps commanders and 
chiefs of staff, to be in immediate readiness for an impor- 
tant movement. The very morning this movement was to 
be made, the news came that Richmond had fallen, and Lee 
was making a desperate effort to escape southward and 
combine his forces with those of Johnston, which only put 
new vigor into Sherman's operations. Kilpatrick with his 
cavalry was pushed on to Raleigh, where the Confederate 
army had been left, and found it encamped twenty-five 
miles beyond at Durham Station. Here the news reached 
Sherman that the Army of Northern Virginia had already 
surrendered, and he was soon met by a message from the 
commander of the Confederate forces in North Carolina, 
requesting a " cessation of hostilities with a view to nego- 
tiating terms of surrender." Sherman sent a reply at once, 
and arrangements were made for a personal interview 
between the two commanders, " at a point midway between 
our advance and the position held by the enemy." 

The account of what took place, and of the effect of Mr. 
Lincoln's assassination upon General Johnston, to whom it 
was communicated privately, and all the particulars of the 
negotiations for exchange, which caused such perplexity at 
the time and such misunderstanding and crimination after- 
wards, are furnished us by General Sherman himself in his 



WILUAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 395 

personal memoirs. As General Sherman and some of his 
staff were entering a car to meet the Confederate com- 
mander, as requested, to negotiate terms of surrender, the 
telegraph operator stopped him and requested him to wait 
a few minutes, as he was just receiving an important dispatch 
for him. The dispatch was from Mr. Stanton, announcing 
the assassination, and the attempt on the life of Mr. Seward 
and his son. General Sherman asked the operator if he 
had divulged the contents of that dispatch to any one, and 
beiug answered in the negative, he ordered him to keep 
the secret until his return. Sherman and his staff met 
Johnston and Wade Hampton, with a number of others- 
He says : — 

We had never met before, though we had been in the regular army 
together for thirteen years. He was some twelve years my senior, 
but we knew enough of each other to be well acquainted at once. We 
asked a farmer if we could have the use of his house for a few 
minutes, and he and his wife withdrew into a smaller log house which 
stood close by. As soon as we were alone together, I showed him the 
dispatch announcing Mr. Lincoln's assassination, and watched him 
closely. The perspiration came out in large drops on his forehead, 
and he did not attempt to conceal his distress. He denounced the' 
act as a disgrace to the age, and hoped I did not charge it to the Con- 
federate government. I told him that I could not believe that he or 
General Lee, or the officers of the Confederate army, could possibly 
be privy to acts of assassination; but I would not say as much for 
Jeff Davis, George Landers and men of that stripe. We talked about 
the effect of this act on the country at large, and on the armies, 
and he realized that it made my situation extremely delicate. I 
explained to him that I had not revealed the news to my own personal 
staff, or to the army, and that I dreaded the effect when made known 
in Raleigh. Mr. Lincoln was peculiarly endeared to the soldiers, and 
I feared that some foolish woman or man in Raleigh might say some- 
thing or do something that would madden our men, and that a fate 
worse than that of Columbia would befall the place. I then told 
Johnston that he must be convinced that he could not oppose my 
army, and that since Lee had surrendered, he could do the same with 
honor and propriety. He plainly and repeatedly admitted this, and 
added that any further fighting would be " murder; " but he thought 
that instead of surrendering piecemeal, we might arrange terms that 



396 WILLIAM A, BUCKINGHAM. 

would embrace all the Confederate armies. I asked him if he could 
control other armies than his own. He said not then, but intimated 
that he could procure authority from Mr. Davis. I then told him that 
I had recently had an interview with General Grant and President 
Lincoln, and that I was possessed of their views; that with them and 
the people of the North there seemed to be no vindictive feeling 
against the Confederate armies, but there was against Davis and his 
political adherents, and that the terms that General Grant had given 
to General Lee's army were certainly most generous and liberal. All 
this he admitted, but always recurred to the idea of a universal sur- 
render, embracing his own army, that of Dick Taylor in Louisiana 
and Texas, and of Maury, Forest, and others in Alabama and Georgia. 
Our conversation was very general and extremely cordial, satisfying 
me that it could have but one result, and that which we all desired, 
viz., to end the war as quickly as possible. And being anxious to 
return to Raleigh before the news of Mr. Lincoln's assassination 
could be divulged, on General Johnston's saying that he thought that 
during the night he could procure the authority to act in the name 
of all the Confederate armies in existence, we agreed to meet again 
the next day at noon at the same place, and parted, he for Hills- 
boro and I for Raleigh. — [''Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman,"' 
Vol. 11, p. 347. 

The next day General Sherman met again General John- 
ston, at the time and place appointed, to agree upon the 
terms of surrender. General Johnston then assured him 
'that he had obtained authority over all the Confederate 
armies, and could surrender them on the same terms with 
his own, but argued that to obtain so cheaply this desirable 
result, Sherman ought to give his men and officers some 
assurance of their political rights after their surrender. 

1 explained to him that Mr. Lincoln's proclamation of amnesty 
of December 8, 1863, still in force, enabled every Confederate 
soldier and officer below the rank of colonel to obtain ao absolute 
pardon by simply laying down his arms and taking the common 
oath of allegiance, and that General Grant, in accepting the sur- 
render of General Lee's army, had extended the same pi-inciple to all 
the officers, General Lee included. Such a pardon, I understood, 
would restore to them all their rights of citizenship. But he insisted 
that the officers and men of the Confederate army were unnecessarily 
alarmed about this matter, as a sort of bugbear. He then said that 
Mr. Breckenridge was near at hand, and he thought it would be well 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 397 

for him to be present. I objected, on the score that he was then in 
Davis's Cabinet, and our negotiations should be confined strictly to 
belligerents. He then said that Breckenridge was a major general in 
the Confederate army, and might sink his character of secretary of 
war. I consented, and he sent one of his staff officers back, who 
soon returned with him. General Johnston and I then again went 
over the whole ground, and Breckenridge confirmed what he had 
said as to the uneasiness of the Southern officers and soldiers about 
their political rights in case of surrender. While we were in consul- 
tation, a messenger came with a parcel of papers, which General 
Johnston said were from Mr. Regan, postmaster general. He and 
Breckenridge looked over them, and after some side conversation, he 
handed one of the papers to me. It was in Regan's handwriting, and 
began with a long preamble and terms so general and verbose that I 
said they were inadmissible. Then recalling the conversation of Mr. 
Lincoln at City Point, I sat down at the table and wrote the terms 
which I thought concisely expressed his views and wishes, and 
explained that I was willing to submit these terms to the new Presi- 
dent, Mr. Johnson, provided that both armies should remain in statu 
quo until the truce therein declared should expire. I had full faith 
that General Johnston would religiously respect the truce, which he 
did; and that I would be the gainer, for in the few days it would take 
to send the papers to Washington and receive an answer, I could 
finish the railroad up to Raleigh, and be better prepared for a long 
chase. Neither Mr. Breckenridge nor General Johnston wrote one 
word of that paper. I wrote it myself, pronounced it the best I could 
do, and they readily assented. — [General Sherman's '^ Personal Mem- 
oirs,'' Vol. II, p. 353. 

The '' basis of agreement," which embraced a truce of 
forty-eight hours, and the conditions upon which the sur- 
render was to be made, when approved of by the two 
governments, was as follows : — ' 

Memorandum, or basis of agreement, made this eighteenth day of 
April, A. D. 1865, near Durham Station, in the State of North 
Carolina, and by and between General Joseph E. Johnston, com- 
manding the Confederate army, and Major General William T. 
Sherman, commanding the Army of the United States in North 
Carolina, both present. 

1. The contending armies now in the field to maintain the statu 
quo until notice is given by the commanding general of any one to its 
opponent, and reasonable time — say forty-eight hours — allowed. 

2. The Confederate armies now in existence to be disbanded and 



398 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

conducted to their several State capitals, there to deposit their arms 
and public property in the State arsenal; and each officer and man 
to execute and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and to 
abide the action of the State and Federal authority. The number of 
arms and munitions of war to be reported to the Chief of Ordinance 
at Washington city, subject to the future action of the Congress of 
the United States, and in the meantime, to be used solely to maintain 
peace and order within the borders of the States respectively. 

3. The recognition, by the Executive of the United States, of the 
several State governments, on their officers and Legislatures taking 
the oaths presented by the Constitution of the United States, and 
where conflicting State governments have resulted from the war, tlie 
legitimacy of all shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of the 
United States. 

4. The re-establishment of all the Federal Courts in the several 
States, with powers as defined by the Constitution of the United 
States and of the States respectively. 

5. The people and inhabitants of all the States to be guaranteed, 
so far as the Executive can, their political rights and franchises, as 
well as their rights of person and property, as defined by the Constitu- 
tion of the United States and of the States respectively. 

6. The Executive authority of the government of the United States 
not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as 
they live in peace and quiet, abstain from acts of armed hostility, and 
obey the laws in existence at the place of their residence. 

7. In general terms — the war to cease ; a general amnesty, so far as 
the Executive of the United States can command, on condition of the 
disbandment of the Confederate armies, the distribution of the arms, 
and the resumption of peaceful pursuits by the officers and men 
hitherto comprising said armies. 

Not being fully empowered by our respective principals to fulfill 
these terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly 
obtain the necessary authority, and to carry out the above programme. 

W. T. Sherman, Major General, 
Commanding Army of the United States in North Carolina. 

J. E. Johnston, General, 
Commanding Confederate States Army in North Carolina. 

The " conditions of surrender " laid down in this paper 
are essentially different from those granted to General Lee, 
which were " unconditional," so far as the reorganization of 
the seceded State governments and the political rights 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 399 

and franchises of the citizens of such States were con- 
cerned. They were certainly contrary to the " cypher tele- 
gram " from the President to General Grant, directing 
him to have no *' conference with General Lee, unless it be 
for the capitulation of Lee's army," and directly forbidding 
him to " decide, or discuss, or confer upon any political 
question." This paper, on the other hand, seeks to legiti- 
matize the Secession State governments ; turns over to 
them the " arms and munitions of war," about to be cap- 
tured, and restores to the inhabitants of those States their 
"political rights and franchises," without any accounta- 
bility for their treason and hand in a civil war. Of course, 
such a " basis of agreement" was not to be approved of by 
our government, and General Grant was immediately sent 
there to order its rejection, and instruct General Sherman 
to " demand " of General Johnston " the surrender of your 
army on the same terms as were given to General Lee at 
Appomattox," which was done. The truth was, the old 
spirit and intrigue of the Confederacy were concerned in 
that paper, when an entirely different spirit had taken pos- 
session of Lee and Johnston, and the mass of the people of 
the South, who were glad to have the war over, and ready 
to come back into the Union. The calling into the con- 
ference, which proposed those terms of agreement, of 
members of the Confederate Cabinet, and no doubt having 
consulted Davis about it ; the attempt to settle even then by 
astute diplomacy, what had been referred to the desperate 
arbitrament of war, and when war had left nothing else 
but submission, " unconditional submission," to conquerors ; 
then to have insisted upon such conditions, was as unwise 
as it was useless. For it was only prolonging a hopeless 
struggle, and keeping alive the hostility which would for- 
ever have prevented union and peace. 

The final terms as ratified and approved, were these : — 



400 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Military Convention of April, 26, 1865. 
Supplemental Terms. 

1. The field transportation to be loaned to the troops for their 
march to their homes, and for subsequent use in their industrial 
pursuits. Artillery horses may be used in field transportation, if 
necessary. 

2. Each brigade or separate body to retain a number of arms 
equal to one-seventh of its effective strength, which, when the troops 
reach the capitals of their States, will be disposed of as the general 
commanding the department may direct. 

3. Private horses, and other private property of both ofiBcers and 
men, to be retained by them. 

4. The commanding general of the military division of West 
Mississippi, Major General Canby, will be requested to give trans- 
portation by water, from Mobile or New Orleans, to troops from 
Arkansas and Texas. 

5. The obligation of officers and soldiers to be signed by their 
immediate commanders. 

6. Naval forces within the limits of General Johnston's command, 
to be included in the terras of this convention. 

J. M. ScHOFiELD, Major General, 
Commanding United States Forces in North Carolina. 
J. E. Johnston, General, 
Commanding Confederate States Forces in North Carolina. 

The total number of prisoners of war paroled by General Schofield, 
at Greensboro', North Carolina, as afterwards officially reported, 
amounted to 36,817. And the total number who surrendered in 
Georgia and Florida, as reported by General J. H. Wilson, was 
52,453. Aggregate surrendered under the capitulation of General 
J. E. Johnston, 89,270. — [General Sherman' s*^ Personal Memoirs," Vol. 
11, p. 370. 

The relief to the South of the disbandment of her armies, 
after the rigid conscription and reckless squandering of 
life and treasure for those four years of war ; the withdrawal 
of our Northern armies from her territory, where they had 
been employed all that time in breaking up railroads, 
burning cotton and cotton presses, and destroying manu- 
facturing establishments, and storehouses of all that could 
sustain a war; the recovery of all who were left of their 
friends, to their own homes and to their support and com- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 401 

fort, was lifting a crushing load from all their hearts, and 
doing more to make them give up the lost cause than any 
number of future defeats and losses could have done. 
While the joy of the North was equally great in welcoming 
home their friends, in addition to the satisfaction of having 
saved the Union, and forever disposed of slavery, as well as 
of having secured a new lease of life to the only successful 
experiment of a " government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people," and preventing its perishing from 
the earth. 

There was one alloy in the general satisfaction afforded 
by the surrender of Lee and Johnston, — the regret of 
General Sherman's friends over his mistake, and the 
unjustly severe censure of it by the government and a 
portion of the press. He acknowledges his mistake in a 
letter to Secretary Stanton, and excuses it by the necessi- 
ties of the case and anxiety to promote the best feeling at 
the South, without practically changing the result. "I 
admit my folly in embracing in a military convention any 
civil matters ; but, unfortunately, such is the nature of our 
situation that they seem inextricably united, and I under- 
stood from you at Savannah that the financial state of the 
country demanded military success, and would warrant a 
a little bending to policy. When I had my conference with 
General Johnston, I had the public example before me of 
General Grant's terms to Lee's army, and General Weitzel's 
invitation to the Virginia Legislature to assemble at Rich- 
mond. I still believe the general government of the United 
States has made a mistake, but that is none of my business. 
Mine is a different task, and I had flattered myself that 
by four years of patient, unremitted and successful labor, I 
deserved no reminder such as is contained in the last para- 
graph of your letter to General Grant." He was for the 
time removed from his command, and it is to be noticed 
that General Schofield, instead of himself, received John- 



402 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

ston's surrender. The following representation of this 
matter has appeared recently in the newspapers,* from Mr. 
George C. Gorham, the custodian of Secretary Stanton's 
private papers and his biographer. He presents that side 
of the subject, and justifies as well as does honor to the 
rare ability and sturdy patriotism of Mr. Stanton. Still it 
is to be said that General Sherman only made the same 
mistake which President Lincoln made when he gave per- 
mission for the Virginia Legislature to be called together 
to have a hand in the reconstruction of the government, 
a mistake most likely which Mr. Stanton convinced him of, 
and led him to withdraw that permission, and refuse to 
give it to General Sherman. Besides, he knew that his 
terms of surrender to Johnston must first be approved of 
by our government, and might be set aside, as they were, 
and Johnston, like Lee, required to surrender uncondition- 
ally. Mr. Gorham said, in conclusion, he honored and ad- 
mired General Sherman and enjoyed his friendship; that no 
more patriotic American, no braver or more faithful soldier 
ever lived. But he also honored and admired Mr. Stanton, 
and he could not remain silent when one of the greatest and 
wisest of his official acts was misstated and perverted in a 
useless effort to show that General Sherman was right, 
when he himself admitted that he was wrong. It is only 
to be regretted these two men — the one ranking so high in 
the field and the other in the Cabinet, and going down to- 
gether in history as stars of the first magnitude in that 
long, dark night — should have had such a personal quarrel 
over this matter, though General Sherman was afterwards 
restored to his command in the army, and both lived long 
enough to enjoy the well-nigh unqualified admiration of 
their countrymen. 



* Springfield Republican. April 11, 1862. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
Assassination op Mr. Lincoln. 

The Conspirators and Crime — Their Trial and Punishment — Effect 
Upon the Nation — Testimonials of Respect and Grief — The 
Funeral Procession to His Burial Place — Strange Tribute from 
the World's Great Caricaturist. 

The relief of the South and the joy of the North, which 
have been spoken of, had not reached their height, for it 
was between the surrender of General Lee and the sur- 
render of General Johnston, that the saddest and most 
critical event of the war occurred — the assassination of 
Mr. Lincoln. 

The plot, the conspirators and the transaction, were as 
follows : It was proposed not only to kill the President, 
but all his Cabinet, and General Grant, who was expected 
to be with him at the time. It was to be done v\hen 
General Grant's masterly conduct of the war was just 
being successfully finished, and when there was no other 
man in the land who had both at the South and at the North 
such confidence placed in his wisdom and kindness, as Mr. 
Lincoln. And then as General Sherman feared at Raleigh, 
that such an atrocity would demoralize his army, and lead 
to such ravages as would make the war break out afresh, 
and with more of personal vindictiveness ; so we all stood 
aghast and cried more fervently than ever to heaven for 
help. 

Booth, the leading conspirator, belonged to the distin- 
guished family of actors of this name. He was an ardent 
Secessionist, and proud of the part he took in the arrest 



404 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

and execution of John Brown. He had become " stage 
struck" about playing the part of another Brutus, and 
with " mock-heroic " acting, expected to fire the Soutliern 
heart with new desperation in their struggle, and appall the 
North by sweeping away at once, the President, the Vice- 
President, the Cabinet and the Commander-in-Chief of all 
our armies. After the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, so fatal 
to the success of the Secession movement, he visited 
Canada, to plan with sympathizers there, the capture of the 
President, and deliver him a prisoner at Richmond. On 
the 4th of March, when Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, 
Booth was there and created some disturbance because he 
was kept back in the crowd, where he said he lost an ex- 
cellent chance of killing the President then. But when 
Lee surrendered, if anything was ever done to relieve the 
South, it could be delayed no longer. " For siii months," 
he said, " we have worked to capture, but our cause being 
lost, something decisive and great must be done." So when 
the President had returned from the front, where he could 
be in conference with Grant during that critical period, and 
after he had visited the deserted and half-burnt Confederate 
capital, and it was found that, with his family and General 
Grant and a few friends, he was to divert himself from the 
cares of State by an evening at the theatre, the conspira- 
tors, who all had their several parts assigned them, were 
summoned to their work. 

On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Lincoln 
occupied a box at Ford's theatre. There he was shot by 
Wilkes Booth, who entered the box, having previously 
fastened an outer door to guard against interruption. He 
fired from behind, placing the pistol almost against the 
head of the President, who fell forward unconscious. Booth 
dropped the pistol, and as Major Rathbone, one of the party 
in the box reached toward him, struck savagely at him with 
a knife, and leaped from the box to the stage. His spur 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 405 

caught in the flag with which the box was draped, and he 
fell heavily, but recovering himself, stopped to cry: " /S'^<; 
semper ti/rannis,'" dashed across the stage, and out where a 
horse was waiting for him, and for the time escaped. In 
his fall he had broken his leg, but this hardly checked him. 
He was followed, overtaken in Maryland, and stood at bay 
in a barn. He refused to surrender, the barn was fired and 
he was shot by one of the soldiers. The plot miscarried as 
to the other intended victims, except Mr. Seward, who was 
dangerously wounded in the leg, as he lay sick in bed. The 
conspiracy was afterwards proved to the satisfaction of the 
court, and four persons were hanged, Herold, Atzerodt, 
Payne, and Mrs. Suratt. Four others were imprisoned for 
six years, or for life. 

Mr. Lincoln was shot a few minutes after ten o'clock in the 
evening. He scarcely moved, his head drooped forward 
slightly, his eyes closed. He was carried to a house across the 
street, and laid upon a bed in a small room at the rear of the 
hall, on the ground floor. A hasty examination by the sur- 
geons showed at once that his wound was mortal. A large 
derringer bullet had entered the back of his head on the left 
side, and passing through the brain had lodged just behind 
the left eye. Mrs. Lincoln soon reached him, and he was 
tenderly cared for, but there was no hope. He was uncon- 
scious, of course, from the first moment ; but he breathed 
with slow and regular respiration throughout the night. 
As the dawn came, and the lamolight grew pale in the 
fresher beams, his pulse began to fail ; but his face even 
then was scarcely more haggard than those of the sorrow- 
ing group of statesmen and generals around him. His 
automatic moaning, which had continued through the 
night, ceased ; a look of unspeakable peace came upon his 
worn features. At twenty-two minutes after seven he died. 
Stanton broke the silence by saying, " Now he belongs to 
the ages." Dr. Gurley kneeled by the bedside and prayed 



406 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

fervently. The widow came in from the adjoining room, 
supported by her son, and cast herself with loud outcry on 
the dead body. (" History of Abraham Lincoln," Vol. X, 
pp. 289-302.) 

So died our good President, without knowing who killed 
him. And his assassins no more realized that they were 
killing their best friend, than the Jews knew they were 
murdering their Saviour when they crucified Christ. Mr. 
Lincoln was one of the most tender-hearted and generous 
of men, even toward his bitterest enemies. He had just 
expressed, in his second inaugural address, what nobody 
could doubt, after his first administration of the govern- 
ment, were the real sentiments of his heart. " With malice 
toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the 
right as God gives me to see the right, let us strive to 
finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, 
to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his 
widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and 
cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with 
all nations." When the terms of Lee's surrender were 
under consideration, Mr. Lincoln was for making them as 
easy as possible, and was constrained by his Cabinet to 
recall some of the concessions he was making to the 
Confederate States to reorganize themselves under their 
Confederate State governments. The very day of his 
death, when the reconstruction of the government was 
under consideration in the Cabinet, he was very desirous 
of avoiding the shedding any more blood, or the infliction 
of vindictive punishments. " No one need expect me to 
take any part in hanging or killing these men, even the 
worst of them. Frighten them out of the country, open 
the gates, let down the bars, scare them off," he said, 
throwing up his hands as if scaring sheep. " Enough 
lives have been sacrificed, we must extinguish our resent- 
ments if we expect harmony and union." 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 407 

When he fell, what a wave of awe and grief swept over 
the land. It was like some great convulsion of nature. 
What is to come next? And what shall we do without our 
trusted leader ? The extent of the plot to break up the 
government by any violence was not known, and the repe- 
tition of it was to be feared any moment. This is illus- 
trated by one of the incidents of the times, as connected 
with Governor Buckingham, and well remembered in Nor- 
wich, his home. When the news reached the place, and 
such a rumor flew abroad, the people, as they do in earth- 
quake countries, instinctively rushed into the streets. 
There they met the Governor, and, flocking about him, 
asked, "What shall we do now?" Struggling with his 
own grief and wiping away his tears, he could only tell 
them, " God lives, and having so far helped us, we trust 
be will not forsake us now." And bethinking himself 
of what might be the danger at Washington, he called 
Colonel Selden, his secretary, and one of his military offi- 
cers, and gave him the order to take a dozen or fifteen of 
the most reliable citizens, arm them, and convey Senator 
Foster safely to Washington. Senator Foster was president 
pro tern of the Senate, and if Vice-President Johnson had 
been assassinated as well as Mr. Lincoln, Senator Foster 
would have been sworn into the office of President. This 
order was faithfully carried out, though the Vice-President, 
having escaped with his life, was immediately inaugurated 
as Mr. Lincoln's successor. 

Then the nation gave way to its lamentations, and made 
up that funeral train which bore its dead half across the 
continent and seemed more than anything else like Joseph's 
burial of his father, when he carried him down into Canaan 
with all the devotion of a child, and all the pomp of an Egyp- 
tian funeral, and the Canaanites ever after called the place of 
his burial, " The mourning of the Egyptians." After the 
funeral services at Washington, Mr. Lincoln's remains were 



408 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

taken back to his home in Illinois, every town on the route beg- 
ging that the train might stop within its limits and give the 
people the opportunity of looking upon that face once more. 
As far as possible, this request was granted, and it was 
arranged that the route should be substantially that by 
which Mr. Lincoln had come to Washington in 1861. 
Everywhere the mt)st touching tokens of loving remem- 
brance came alike from the rich and the poor, and the fur- 
ther west the train went, it was noticeable that these manifes- 
tations became the more general and striking, as if he was 
one of their parentage and training. The towns and cities 
made their formal preparations and showed all honor to the 
memory of the President, who had been a hero in dark days 
and became a martyr. But it was the humblest people, 
and from the remotest places, who crowded around his bier 
and wept the bitterest tears over their " good President," 
and made it more impressive than any royal funeral. 

A guard of honor, consisting of a dozen officers of higli rank in the 
army and navy, had been detailed by their respective departments, 
which received the remains of the President at the station in Wash- 
ington, at 8 o'clock on the morning of Friday, the 21st of April, and 
the train, decked in somber trappings, moved out toward Baltimore. 
In this city, through which, four years before, it was a question 
whether the President-elect could pass with safety to his life, the 
train made a halt, the coffin was taken with sacred care to the great 
dome of the Exchange, and there, surrounded by evergreens and 
lilies, it lay for several hours, the people passing by in mournful 
throngs. Night was closing in, with rain and wind, when the train 
reached Harrisburg, and the coffin was carried through the muddy 
streets to the State Capitol, when the next morning the same scenes 
of grief and affection were seen. We need not enumerate the many 
stopping places of this dolorous pageant. The same demonstration 
was repeated, gaining continually in intensity of feeling and solemn 
splendor of display, in every city through which the procession 
pas8ed. At Philadelphia, a vast concourse accompanied the dead 
President to Independence Hall; he had shown himself worthy of the 
lofty fate he courted when on that hallowed spot, on the birthday of 
Washington, 1861, he said he would rather be assassinated than give 
up the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 409 

Here, as at many other places, the most touching manifestations of 
loving remembrance came from the poor, who brought flowers twined 
by themselves, to lay upon the coffin. The reception at New York 
was worthy alike of the great city and of the memory of the man they 
honored. The body lay in state in the City Hall, and a half-million 
of people passed in deep silence before it. Here General Scott came, 
pale and feeble, but resolute, to pay his tribute of respect to hig de- 
parted friend and commander. 

The train went up the Hudson river by night, and at every town 
and village on the way vast crowds were revealed in waiting by the 
fitful glare of torches; dirges and hymns were sung as the train 
moved by. Midnight had passed when the cofiin was borne to the 
Capitol at Albany, yet the multitudes rushed in as if it was day, and 
for twelve hours the long line of people from Northern New York 
and the neighboring States poured through the room. 

Over the broad spaces of New York the cortage made its way, 
through one continuous crowd of mourners. At Syracuse 30,000 
people came out in the storm at midnight to greet the passing train 
with fires and bells and cannons; at Rochester the same observances 
made the night memorable; at Buffalo, it was now the morning of the 
27th, and the body lay in state at St. James Hall, visited by a multitude 
from the western counties. As the train passed into Ohio the crowds 
increased in density, and the public grief seemed intensified at every 
step westward; the people of the great central basin seemed to be 
claiming their own. The day spent at Cleveland was unexampled in 
the depth of emotion it brought to life, the warm devotion which 
was exhibited to the memory of the great man gone ; some of the guard 
of honor have said, that it was at that point they began to appreciate 
the place which Lincoln was to hold in history. The authorities, see- 
ing that no building could accommodate the crowd which was sure 
to come from all over the State, wisely erected in the public square 
an imposing mortuary tabernacle for the lying in state, brilliant with 
evergreens and flowers by day, and innumerable gas jets by night, 
and surmounted by the inscription, Extinctus amabitur idem. Im- 
pressive religious ceremonies were conducted in the square by Bishop 
Macllvaine, and an immense procession moved to the station at night 
between two lines of torchlights. Columbus and Indianapolis, the 
State capitals of Ohio and Indiana, were next visited. The whole 
State, in each case, seemed gathered to meet their dead hero; an in- 
tense personal regard was everywhere evident; it was the man, and 
not the ruler, they appeared to be celebrating; the banners and scrolls 
bore principally his own words: "With malice toward none, with 
charity for all;" "The purposes of the Lord are perfect and must 
prevail;" "Here highly resolved that these dead shall not have lived 
in vain," and other brief passages from his writings. On arriving in 



410 WILLUM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Chicago, on the 1st of May, amid a scene of magnificent mourning the 
body was bourne to the Courthouse, where it lay for two days under 
a canopy of somber richness, inscribed with that noble Hebrew 
lament, " The beauty of Israel is slain rnon thy high places." From 
all the States of the Northwest an innumerable throng poured for 
these two days into Chicago, and flowed a mighty stream of hu- 
manity, past the coffin of the dead President, in the midst of evi- 
dences of deep and universal grief, wliich was all the more genuine 
for being quiet and reserved. 

The last stage of this extraordinary progress was the journey to 
Springfield, which began on the night of the 2d of May aud ended 
at 9 o'clock the next morning, the schedule made in Washington 
twelve days before having been accurately carried out. On all the 
railroads centering in Springfield the trains for several days had been 
crowded to their utmost capacity with people who desired to see the 
last of Abraham Lincoln upon earth. Nothing had been done or 
thought of for two weeks in Springfield but the preparations for this 
day. They were made with a thoroughness which surprised the visi- 
tors from the East. The body lay in state in the Capitol, which was 
richly draped from roof to basement in black velvet and silver fringe; 
within it was a bower of bloom and fragrance. For twenty-four 
hours an unbroken stream of people passed through, bidding their 
friend and neighbor welcome home and farewell, and at 10 o'clock 
the 4th of May, the coffin lid was closed at last, A vast procession 
moved out to Oak Ridge, where the dead President was committed to 
the soil of the State which had so loved and honored him. The cere- 
monies at the grave were simple and touching. Bishop Simpson 
delivered a pathetic oration, prayers were offered and hymns sung, 
but the weightiest and most eloquent words uttered anywhere that 
day were those of the second inaugural, which the committee had 
wisely ordained to be read over his grave, as the friends of Raphael 
chose the incomparable canvas of "The Transfiguration" as the 
chief ornament of his funeral. — [" History of Abraham Lincoln,^^ Vol. 
X, pp. 319-324. 

The effect of Mr. Lincoln's death upon the South was not 
seen at first, but came later. While some, like the Presi- 
dent of the Confederacy, were disposed to regard it as good 
luck to a failing cause, which might save it, they soon 
found, when reconstruction came and Mr. Lincoln's unreli- 
able successor came into office, that his kind heart and 
wonderful wisdom were what they most needed. And few 
sincerer regrets, or higher tributes of praise, came from 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 411 

any quarter than from that. They came to join in the 
country's grief, and the world's honor, of that remarkable 
character which Providence had raised up for his mission, 
and so inexplicably removed the moment his work was 
finished. There is no other character like his in all our 
strange history, and no other work like his in the world's 
history. And among all the tributes paid him at his 
death, there was none nobler, certainly none so unexpected, 
as the one which came from the world's great caricaturist, 
the editor of London Punch. If we could have known 
at the time, what was discovered afterwards, that the leer- 
ing, jeering spirit of fun, which had taken no end of satis- 
faction in ridiculing the rugged face, the tall, gaunt form 
and awkward manners of Lincoln, had been conscience 
smitten for his crime, and was following that funeral train 
like a barefooted monk, crowding up to that bier as to a 
holy shrine, and pouring out its penitence and prayers for 
the dead, and in that guise was atoning for its sins — if it 
had not been that John Leech himself told us, that this 
was the way in" which he chose to make his acknowledg- 
ment, and right tiie wrong he had done this great, good 
man — we never could have expected such remorse within 
the privileged field of caricature, or had such admiration 
for one of the profession. 

Tribute to Abraham Lincoln. 

YouJ lay a wreath on murdered Lincoln's bier! 

You ! who with mocking pencil wont to trace 
Broad for the self-complacent British sneer, 

His length of shambling limb, his furrowed face, 

His gaunt, gnarled hands, his unkempt, bristling hair, 

His garb uncouth, his bearing ill at ease. 
His lack of all we prize as debonair. 

Of power or will to shine, or art to please 1 

You! whose smart pen, backed by the pencil's laugh, 
Judging each step as though the way was plain, 



412 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Reckless, so it could point its paragraph 
Of chief's perplexity, of people's pain — 

Beside the corpse, that bears for winding sheet 
The stars and stripes he had to rear anew, 

Between the mourners at his head and feet, 
Say! scurrile jester, is tliere room for you? 

Yes, he had lived to shame rae from my sneer; 

To lame my pencil, and confute my pen; 
To make me own this mind of princes peer; 

'i Jiis rail-splitter, a true-born king of men. 

My shallow judgment I have learned to rue. 
Noting how to occasion's hight he rose. 

How his quaint wit made home truth seem more true. 
How iron- like his temper grew by blows; 

How humble, yet how hopeful he could be ; 

How in good fortune, and in ill the same; 
Nor bitter in success, nor boastful he; 

Thirsty for gold, nor feverish for fame. 

He went about his work — such work as few 
Ever had laid on head, and heart, and hand — 

As one who knows when there's a task to do, 
Man's honest will will heaven's good grace command. 

Will) trusts the strength, will with the burden grow 
That God makes instruments to work his will. 

If but that will one can arrive to know, 
Nor tamper with the weights of good and ill. 

So he went forth to battle on the side 
That he felt clear was Liberty's and Right's, 

As in his peasant boyhood he had plied 

His warfare with rude nature's thwarting mights. 

The uncleared forest, the unbroken soil. 
The iron bark that turns the lumber's axe. 

The rapid that o'erbears the boatman's toil. 
The prairie hiding the mazed wanderer's track. 

The ambushed Indian, and the prowling bear; 
Such were the needs that helped his youth to train — 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 413 

Rough culture; but such trees large fruit may bear, 
If but their stocks be of right girth and grain. 

So he grew up a destined work to do, 
And lived to do it — four long suffering years— 

Ill-fate, ill-feeling, ill-report lived through, 
And then he heard the hisses changed to cheers. 

The taunt to tribute, the abuse to praise, 
And took both with the same unwavering mood. 

Till, as he came on light from darkling days, 
And seemed to touch the goal from where he stood. 

A felon hand, between the goal and him. 
Reached from behind his back; a trigger pressed; 

And those perplexed and patient eyes were dim, 
Those gaunt, long, laboring limbs were laid to rest. 

The words of mercy were upon his lips; 

Forgiveness in his heart and on his pen; 
When this vile murderer brought swift eclipse 

To thoughts of " Peace on earth; good will to men." 

The old world and the new, from sea to sea, 

Utter one voice of sympathy and shame! 
Sore heart! so stopped when it at last beat high! 

Sad life ! cut short just as its triumph came. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
The War Over. 

The Cost of the War— Measures Taken to Stop the Expenses — Grand 
Review and Disbandment of the Army — Difference Between 
Eastern and Westein Troops — Equal Tributes Paid to Both hj 
their Two Great Commanders. 

The war was now over, and the first thing to be done 
was to stop the military expenses, disband the army, and 
scatter the navy. When Lee surrendered, and Richmond 
was evacuated, General Grant did not enter the city, but 
hurried off to Washington to stop enlistments for the army 
and navy, and supplies for both, which for four years had 
seemed such a bottomless sea of waste for the resources of 
any nation. 

The cost of supporting the great armies and fleets used in the Civil 
War, is shown by the lapid increase of the national debt, which was 
in 1860, June 30, $64,769,703; 1861, June 30, $90,867,828; 18G2, June 30, 
$514,211,3>1; 1863, June 30, $1,097,274,360; 1864, June 30, $1,740,036,689; 
1865, March 31, $2,423,437,001; 1866, January 1, $2,749,4'j1,745. 

As to this statement. Draper's "Civil War" says: 
'• The great increase indicated by the last item, apparently 
after the war was over, was due to the paying off of the 
troops and the settlement of outstanding bills. Such was 
the debt, but to it should be added the sums expended by 
individual States, and local bodies, in raising and fitting 
out their several contingents. The total rises above 
$4,000,000,000. Bounties were paid to the amount of about 
$200,000,000, and about $100,000,000 more to the families 
of absent and deceased soldiers." 

The same authority says, as to numbers of men in 
the field : — 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 415 

The entire force called into the national service during the war was 
2,68S,523men. Of these there were enlisted: For three months, 191,985; 
for six months, 19,070; for nine months, 87,558; for one year, 394,959; 
for two years, 43,113; for three years, 1,950,792; for four years, 1,040; 
total, 2,088,523. Many of these were mustered in more than once. 
Making suitable allowance for this, and other necessary deductions, 
it may be concluded that about 1,50(5,000 soldiers were employed. 
Of these, 56,000 were killed in battle; 35,090 died in the hospitals 
of wounds; 185,000 died in the hospitals of disease; many more 
died subsequently; and the health of still more was irreparably 
broken down. 

The breadth of the field of the war, extending over a 
territory more than a thousand miles square ; the ex- 
tent of seacoast, and number of ports to be blockaded ; the 
important part which railroads were to have in all its 
operations ; the new navy which had to be created both for 
the ocean and for our great rivers ; and the very arms, from 
turreted and iron-clad ships, to siege guns, breech loaders 
and repeating rifles, which were to be invented and manu- 
factured ; explain the cost of such military operations. 

Almost simultaneously with the cutting off of the outlay 
for recruits and supplies, and the support of the armies in 
the field, came the disbandment of the great forces, which 
had for years been withdrawn from civil life and were now 
to return to it. The greater part of the men were quickly 
mustered out wherever they happened to be, but Sherman's 
army and the Army of the Potomac under General Meade, 
and that of the James under General Terry, were assembled 
at Washington, and there 200,000 veterans marched in the 
never-to-be-forgotton review of May 23 and 24. Tuesday, 
the first day, was devoted to the review of the Eastern 
troops. The President and Cabinet occupied a stand along 
the line of march, while General Grant and his staff led the 
procession, with General Meade leading the Potomac army, 
and General Terry at the head of the Army of the James, 
with the several commanders in place. The next day, 
Wednesday, the 24th, was equally beautiful as to weather, 



416 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

and quite as interesting and imposing in its pageantry. 
General Sherman thus describes it : — 

The Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Twentieth Corps closed up to the 
bridge. The morning was extremely beautiful, and the ground was 
in splendid order for a review. The streets were filled with people 
to see the pageant, armed with bouquets for their favorite regiments 
or heroes, and everything was propitious. Punctually at 9 A. m. the 
signal gun was tired, when in person, attended by General Howard 
and all my staff, I rode slowly down Pennsylvania avenue, the crowds 
of men, women, and children densely lining the sidewalks, and 
almost obstructing the way. We were followed close by General 
Logan, and the head of the Fifteenth Corps. When I reached the 
Treasury building and looked back, the sight was simply magnificent. 
The column was compact, and the glittering muskets looked like a 
solid mass of steel, moving with the regularity of a pendulum. We 
passed the Treasury building, in front of which and of the White 
House was an immense throng of people, for whom extensive stands 
had been prepared on both sides of the avenue. As I neared the 
brick house on the lower corner of Lafayette square, some one asked 
me to notice Mr. Seward, who, still feeble and bandaged for his 
wounds, had been rernoved there that he might behold the troops. I 
moved in that direction and took off my hat to Mr. Seward, who sat 
at an upper window. He recognized the salute, returned it, and 
then we rode on steadily past the President, saluting with our swords. 
All on this stand rose and acknowledged the salute. Then turning 
into the gate of the presidential grounds, we left our horses with 
orderlies and went upon the stand, where I found Mrs. Sherman, and 
her father and son. Passing them, I shook hands with General Grant, 
and each member of the Cabinet. I then took my post on the left of 
the President, and for six hours and a half stood while the ai-my passed, 
in the order of the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth and Fourteenth 
Corps. It was, in my judgment, the most magnificent army in existence 
— 65,000 men in splendid physique, who had just completed a march 
of 2, 000 miles in a liostile country, in good drill, and who realized that 
they were being closely scrutinized by thousands of their fellow- 
countrymen and foreigners. Division after division passed, each 
commander of an army corps or division commander on the stand 
during the passage of the command to be presented to the President, 
Cabinet, and spectators. The steadiness and firmness of their tread, 
the careful dress of the guides, the uniform intervals, between the 
companies, all eyes directed to the front, and the tattered and bullet- 
riven flags festooned with flowers, all attracted universal notice. 
Many good people up to that time had looked upon our Western army 
as a sort of mob, but the world then saw and recognized the fact that 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. • 417 

it was an army in a proper sense, well organized, well commanded 
and disciplined, and there was no wonder that it had swept through 
the South like a tornado. For six and a half hours that strong tread 
of the Army of the West resounded along Pennsylvania avenue; not 
one soul of that crowd of spectators left his place, and when the rear 
of tlie column had passed by, thousands of spectators still lingered 
to express their sense of confidence in the strength of a government 
which could claim such an army. — [General Sherman's ^^ Personal 
Memoirs," Vol. II, p. 378. 

The difference between Eastern and Western armies, 
when thus brought together, is pointed out by General 
Grant, while their equal share in the achievements of the 
war is so impartially assigned them, by the commander-in- 
chief of both, as to take away all jealousy or boasting 
from either. " Sherman's army made a different appear- 
ance from that of the Army of the Potomac. The latter 
had been operating where they received directly from the 
North full supplies of food and clothing regularly. The 
review of this army, therefore, was the review of a body of 
well-drilled, well-disciplined and orderly soldiers, unused 
to hardship and fit for any duty, but without the experience 
of gathering their own food and supplies in an enemy's 
country, and of being ever on the watch. Sherman's army 
was not so well dressed as the Army of the Potomac, but 
their marching could not be excelled ; they gave the appear- 
ance of men who had been thoroughly drilled to endure 
hardships, either by long and continuous marches, or through 
exposure to any climate without the ordinary shelter of a 
camp." As for their several and equal services, which 
went to make up the result of the war, and the glory 
which will forever be attached to all who had any part 
in those achievements, he says, in his final report to the 
government : — 

It has been my fortune to see the armies of both the West and the 
East fight battles, and from what I have seen, I know there is no 
difference in their lighting qualities. All that was possible for men 
to do in battle, they have done. The Western armies commenced 



418 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

their battles iu the Mississippi valley, and received the final surrender 
of the principal army opposed to them in North Carolina. The 
armies of the East commenced their battles on the river from which 
the Army of the Potomac derived its name, and received the final 
surrender of their old antagonists at Appomattox Courthouse, 
Virginia. The splendid achievements of each have nationalized our 
victories, removed all sectional jealousies — of which wo have unfortu- 
nately experienced too much — and the cause of crimination and 
recrimination that might have followed had either section failed in 
its duty. All have a proud record, and all sections can well congratu- 
late themselves and each other for having done their full share in re- 
storing the supremacy of law over every foot of territory belonging to 
the United States. Let them hope for perpetual peace and harmony 
with that enemy, whose manhood, however mistaken the cause, drew 
forth such herculean deeds of valor. — ["Grajjf.s Memoirs,'^ Vol. II, 
p. 632. 

J II this spirit of appreciation of each other's services, and 
of magnanimity toward the South, in which the North was 
fast coming to appreciate their disadvantages, and the deso- 
lations they had suffered from the war, the review closed. 
And these 200,000, who represented the million and a half 
of men who had been engaged in the service, laid by their 
arms and uniforms and sank back into their citizenship 
again. And it took place as naturally and quietly as the 
snows of winter melt into the returning spring and freshen 
the verdure which is to hide the ravages of war. 

With the review and disbandment of our armies, and the 
testimony of these two great commanders to their heroic 
qualities and equal merits, came the relief and satisfaction, 
both to the South and of the North, that the war was over. 
As showing what this state of feeling was at the capital of 
the Confederacy, the personal observations of the writer, 
soon after the evacuation, are given in the form of " A Visit 
to Richmond." A photograph of Governor Buckingham's 
hasty letter to his brother, announcing the evacuation of 
the city, and its being first occupied by some of his 
colored troops, is also given. 



^UdL Lf Ceicyz^ 'hi/iJ/i.f %jl Q.CJ-" fi((i^ <Z(n^t^ 






'/A^ Jim fumr fybj. eu^ ^/^ufUi 'mo\ 



419 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
A Visit to Richmond. 

Personal Observations in the City Soon After its Evacuation — The 
Temper of the People — The Disposition to Accept the Kesult of 
the War and Cultivate Friendship. 

In May, 1865, a month or six weeks after the city fell 
into our possession, the writer left Springfield, Mass., with 
a dozen friends, to find out what we could of the condition 
of things there. The city was under martial law and full 
of Confederate prisoners gathered there to be sent by our 
government to their homes. Not only were these prisoners 
fed by our government, but the inhabitants of the city were 
mostly dependent for their daily bread upon the same 
supply. For the close blockade and long investment of 
Richmond, and especially the blowing up by the Confed- 
erate commanders before they left, of the warehouses and 
provision depots of the city, and the destruction of the rail- 
road bridges, and leaving the city on fire, which destroyed 
one-third of the business part of it, left the inhabitants as 
destitute of all needful supplies as can well be conceived. 
The best residences, and such as had not been reached by 
the fire, had evidently not been repaired or painted since 
the war began. It was the days ol hoop skirts among the 
ladies, but not one was seen there ; they were not manu- 
factured aud they could uot be imported. Their clothing 
was scanty and out of fashion, showing how they had 
suffered in this respect. It was enough to change all re- 
sentment into pity, to witness their condition. And the 
fortitude and self-respect with which the people bore their 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 421 

humiliation, and the freedom with which they consulted us, 
as to what could be done for their relief, won our highest 
respect. 

The impression among them at first was that our party 
must be a government commission, sent to get information, 
or to regulate affairs. But when answered that we had no 
connection with the government, and that if we could do 
anything for them in the way of advice, or influence with 
the government, we were ready to use it, they gave us their 
confidence, so that we mingled freely with the citizens and 
with the prisoners, and soon found that a visit of curiosity 
might be made a mission of helpfulness, both to them and 
to the government, and this we endeavored to make it. 
Mr. Lincoln had been assassinated, and they knew they 
had lost their best friend. Mr. Johnson, the Vice-Presi- 
dent, who had succeeded to the presidency, they feared, 
for though a Southerner, he was a man of strong preju- 
dices and freakish disposition. " What are you going to 
do with us, now that you have conquered us ? " was their 
inquiry. '• We have done all we could to have a separate 
government, but have failed. And now do you want to 
shut us out of our old privileges and punish us all you can, 
or will you make us citizens again, and let us go home, and 
help us build up the ruins of the South ? " This, we 
assured them, was what the North was anxious to do. and 
if in the bitterness of the strife we had felt revengeful, it 
was now over, and like Mr. Lincoln, and General Grant, 
and General Sherman, we only wished them to become good 
citizens again, and enjoy greater prosperity than they had 
ever known under the old L^nion. The easy terms of sur- 
render, and the permission given to their officers and 
soldiers to take their horses and mules, and to begin again 
the cultivation of their lands, was heartily approved of by 
the North. And if they would allow social intercourse, 
and Northern business to come in, we should in time 



422 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

become a more united nation than we ever had been, and 
the South a much richer portion of it. Such views aiid 
feelings, especially in such circumstances, were not likelv 
to encounter much opposition. And we soon found our- 
selves with opportunities enough for helping the South 
and helping the government. 

Several ot our party liad either lived in Richmond or 
been there on business, and they found their acquaintances 
glad enough to see them and get the benefit of their advice. 
We were specially invited to meet one evening several of 
the principal men of the city, and talk over the situation 
of affairs. The question with them, as with everybody, 
was : " What are you going to do with us ? How does your 
government propose to treat us r And what can we do on 
our part to secure the most favorable treatment ? " All 
their difficulties were frankly stated, and their fears ex- 
pressed. They were under martial law. They were 
mostly dependent upon the government for daily rations, 
and some member of those old Virginia families, often 
the lady of the house, or her youthful daughter, at- 
tended b_v her colored servant, was obliged to take 
the oath of allegiance at the lips of some young lieu- 
tenant, as the only condition of obtaining aid, while her 
servant, perhaps, was rejoicing over her humiliation. The 
property of the city was virtually confiscated by the govern- 
ment, at least their places of business and manufacturing 
establishments were closed, and work stopped. Those 
thousands of prisoners who were being gathered into the 
city from every quarter and sent off as fast as possible, 
made it impossible that ordinary business should be done 
there for a long time. No wonder all were asking for 
advice. And when, at that first conference, the whole sub- 
ject was opened with us, we were glad to honor their confi- 
dence and give them all the information and advice that 
we could furnish. As for information, I remember, whea 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 423 

the Union Pacific railroad happened to be referred to, with 
what surprise and incredulity it was received, for they had 
never heard of it, nor were their papers allowed to refer to 
such an event, so important to the North; though the road 
was then half-way across the continent. Our advice, of 
course, was that they should accept the situation cheerfully, 
apply for the removal of their disabilities and the restora- 
tion of their property, and as good citizens help us restore 
the Union and as quickly as possible repair the ravages of 
the war. We remember that one of their number, Gen- 
eral James R. Anderson,* a Confederate officer, a graduate 
of West Point, and manager of the Tredegar Works, 
where so many cannon were cast, and so much heavy iron 
work constr.ucted for the Confederate service, was an old 
acquaintance of some of our party in the way of business, 
and came to consult with them repeatedly and see if there 
was no way in which he could recover his confiscated works 
and resume his busines.s. The last thing he did when we 
were leaving for Washington was to beg us to go to General 
Dyer, at the head of the Ordnance Department, and see if 
his works could not be restored upon some terms. In con- 
sidering the matter among ourselves, it was suggested that, 
as he was a man to be depended upon, and there was noth- 
ing the government needed so much as supporters in Rich- 
mond, it might well afford to restore his property, on con- 
dition that he would become a Union man and be the leader 
and nucleus of a Union party in that city. Representations 
to this effect were made to General Dyer at Washington. 
His property was soon restored, and, it is to be presumed, 
upon some such terms. 

There was one occurrence during this visit that should 
be mentioned as showing the respect and confidence felt for 
our party, in that peculiar condition of the community. It 



* General Anderson died at the Isle of Sboais. N. H.. on a visit there dartD^ the 
summer of 1832. 



424 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

was a meeting we were allowed to hold on Sunday evening 
in the large and famous colored church of the city. It was 
a regular Baptist church, with two pastors, one white and 
the other colored, the latter to suit the tastes of his con- 
gregation, and the other to supervise him and his people. 
The white pastor was a pronounced and un-reconstructed 
Secessionist, and probably only consented to such a meet- 
ing out of courtesy to us, and at the desire of his people. 
The arrangements were judiciously made and carried out 
and meant for the benefit of both classes of the population. 
It so happened that we had in our party those who well 
understood the subjects upon which they spoke. One of 
them was a civil engineer, president of a railroad, and 
largely interested in works of construction, so that he knew 
what was for the interest of laboring men, and had done 
much for their welfare. He told how many of this class of 
people lived at the North, in their own homes, painted and 
carpeted, their children in the public schools, with every 
opportunity given them to become intelligent, prosperous 
and useful citizens. Another of the party, one of the 
" Webster's Dictionary " firm, told how many spelling books 
and school books of various kinds they published, and how 
rare it was to find a New Englander who could not read 
books, and write letters and keep the accounts of business ; 
and how such education gave them employment and good 
wages, and with industry, economy and sobriety, improved 
their condition. One or two of us were clergymen, and it 
was natural for us to speak to them of marriage, and of the 
new liberties and responsibilities that were thrown upon 
them in this respect. Their reverence for the Bible we 
could see made them sensitive to its teachings upon this 
subject, and we could not help feeling that with their new 
responsibilities for their domestic life, and this book always 
in their hands, would improve their homes and their chil- 
dren. Of course others irave them trood instruction in re- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 426 

gard to the duties they owed their old masters and society, 
and the country of which they were eventually to become 
citizens. And remembering what the North had done for 
their emancipation, nothing could exceed their confidence 
in us, and gratitude for our interest in them. It was cer- 
tainly a very remarkable meeting — a congregation of at 
least 1,000 emancipated slaves, and in that community, and 
in such a condition of things, probably not a score of white 
people among them, and not the least remarkable feature of 
it was, that it was suffered, and stirred neither resentment 
nor criticism, unless it was in the suppressed utterances 
of their white pastor. 

As for the Confederate prisoners in the city, poor fellows, 
they needed and were glad of our sympathy and encour- 
agement. They had been compelled to serve during the 
war, some of them from the beginning, and were going 
home, they hardly knew where, or to what. If any body 
needed hope and help, they did, and they were grateful for 
it. We gave them cheer, we gave them money, we sent 
them home with the knowledge that the Yankees were not 
such mean and heartless people as they once supposed. 
The soldiers on both sides had learned before this to con- 
fide in each other's humanity and honor. It was the home 
guards and guerrillas, who have been defined as " peaceful 
citizens by day and Confederate soldiers at night," whom 
they feared most. And more or less of these men went 
South, assured that they had friends at the North who 
would wish the government to be considerate of them, and 
support any policy which should relieve them of their dis- 
abilities, and help to build up their business. 

It was at this time that General Sherman's army passed 
through Richmond, after their " march to the sea," on 
their way to Washington for the grand review. There 
were 65,000 of them, and it took two days to accomplish it. 
They came, just as they had marched through Georgia, 



426 WILLIAM A. HUCKimJHAM. 

with light baggage, mostly upon mules, and with their 
bummers and representatives of plantation life and prod- 
ucts. They were marched around by Libby Prison, and up 
past the Capitol, with their endless lines and ceaseless 
tramp, as if that was a force which must end any war. I 
went to the Powhattan hotel, directly opposite the Capitol, 
which had been given up to the Confederate officers, to see 
how they looked upon that passing army, and heard no 
utterances but those of respect, profound respect, for such 
heroes. The principal residences on that fine street were 
generally closed and the shutters fastened, as if the inhab- 
itants could not look upon such a display without being 
made too sensible of their losses and humiliation. But 
that was not strange, and there were no signs of either 
< ontempt or hostility. The people accepted the situation, 
and having thrown down the gauge of battle and been 
defeated, they were glad to have it over, and doubly glad 
that their conquerors showed no inhumanity. 

It was at this time that the news came of the capture of 
the Confederate President. General Devens of Massachu- 
setts, who was in command across the river, and came into 
the city to take some of our party to church with him on 
that Sunday morning, brought us the intelligence. It 
caused a great sensation, and particularly the exaggerated 
account of the disguise in which he attempted to escape. 
Some of us were going to another church, with a good 
Union family, and I remember the exclamation of the wife 
of our friend when the story was told her : " O dear ! 
What do they want of him ? " When the government had 
such trouble to dispose of him, and after a couple of years 
or so of close imprisonment and liberty under guard, they 
wore obliged to let him go, because they could neither try 
him by court martial nor before a civil court, w^hen if tried 
in Virginia, where his crime was committed, he was sure 
to be acquitted, we could not help tliinking how superior 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 427 

a woman's instinctive good sense sometimes was to able 
statesmanship, and that it might have been a gain to have 
had one such in the Cabinet! 

One little incident occurred at the close of our visit 
which, though personal to the writer, may be of general 
interest enough to be mentioned. The morning before we 
were to leave, there appeared at the table two young Con- 
federate officers in their uniform, one of whom recognized 
me. Inquiring where we had ever met, he said it was in 
Springfield, at his uncle's house, who was one of my 
parishioners. He invited me to come out and see him in 
his quarters, where he was waiting with his regiment to be 
sent South. He was a surgeon, and had enlisted at Baton 
Rouge, and had served through the entire war. 1 inquired 
if his mother was not at the North, and being told that 
she was, I suggested that he should go North and see her 
before he went home, and invited him to return with me. 
He resented it at first, as if it was a desertion of his com- 
rades. But upon the suggestion that it was a duty to his 
mother, and would also be a benefit to him to find out the 
state of things at the North, and the encouragement there 
was to labor for the re-establishment of the Union, he 
interposed the question, "Could 1 go North?" "Cer- 
tainly," was the reply ; " nobody will harm you, nor inten- 
tionally wound your feelings. You will, of course, have to 
be guarded in your speech and temper. And you will have 
to take off that rebel uniform," was added. To this he 
replied, that if 1 would allow him to consult with his com- 
manding officer he would report to me shortly. Within an 
hour he came back, accepting my invitation, and was taken 
to a ready-made clothing store that had just been opened, 
where he exchanged his Confederate gray suit for a citi- 
zen's dress, and was told that he " looked better." He 
realized this more fully when we took the crowded boat 
for Baltimore and saw what scant courtesy one received 



428 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

who wore the rebel uniform. We sincerely pitied and 
admired him when we stopped at the hotel in the morning 
for breakfast and found he had no appetite for it, and only 
took out his prayer book and quietly comforted his heavy 
heart with that best balm for every wound. He came 
North and enjoyed his visit with his friends, and returned 
South, where he is a good citizen, with a large family of this 
kind grown up around him. So peace has her victories as 
well as war, and I take more satisfaction in this kind of 
capture of a single Confederate, than if I had slain a score. 
Our party brought back, of course, more or less memen- 
toes of the war. Major General Charles Devens of Massa- 
chusetts, who distinguished himself at Fair Oaks, Antie- 
tam and Fredericksburg, the accomplished gentleman and 
scholar, who for twenty-five years after the war honored 
the bench of the Supreme court of his native State, and was 
then in command at Eiichmond, added much to the interest 
and value of our visit. He furnished us with ambulances 
and young officers to visit the fortifications and battlefields 
about the city, and we all brought back something of in- 
terest besides the information we gained. Some of our 
number came back loaded with a broken musket and an 
unexploded bomb, while the rest of us were content with 
buttons and bullets, and black beans, such as the Confed- 
erate soldiers were sometimes reduced to, as the principal 
part of their rations. For myself, I was content to bring 
home a piece of the rebel flag that was floating over the 
Capitol when our troops arrived there ; a rubber ruler 
marked " L. Cruger, Comptroller's office — C. S.." which I 
have found convenient on my writing desk, and with which 
to spank my little grandsons, when obliged to carry out the 
teachings of Solomon, though it has seemed as if the in- 
strument had too much of the Confederate temper in it, and 
needed to be used with more of the spirit that has come 
after the war. Besides this I had quite a quantity of signed 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 429 

but unissued Confederate bonds, to be left to my heirs and 
make them wealthy, when they become of value, as they 
will when the Confederacy shall be established. As it is, 
there is wealth enough of its kind in such things, which so 
open to us the pages of history, impress us with the cost of 
so many privileges, and make us daily thankful to God 
that such times are forever over. 



CHAPTER XXVll. 
Governor Buckingham's Re-election in 1866. 

Close of the War— What Connecticut Had Done — The Loyal Gover- 
nors — Reconstruction Begun in Congi-ess and in the States — The 
Adoption of the Xlllth Amendment by Connecticut — Acquies- 
cence in it by the South — Testimony of a Southern Bishop. 

The end of the war came in the spring of 1866. Gov- 
ernor Buckingham was then re-elected for the last time 
and by an increased majority. After having held the office 
eight years, and met the responsibilities of that critical 
and all-important period to the satisfaction of the State, he 
declined any further re-election, but a few years later was 
sent by the State to the United States Senate. 

iV.s has been already remarked, political parties in Con- 
necticut were generally so evenly balanced that a majority 
of a few hundred, or at most of 1,000 or 2,000, was enough 
to throw the influence of the State either for, or against, 
any administration. Thus Governor Buckingham's first 
election in 1858, when the war had not yet broken out, but 
was threatening, was by a majority of only 2,600 over all 
other votes, and in 1860, in the struggle for Mr. Lincoln's 
election, it fell to 600. Still in 1861, when the war was 
upon us, his majority rose to 2,000; in 1862, the midst of 
the war, to 9,000 ; and in 1865, when the war was closing, 
to 11,000. This last election took place the day after Lee 
surrendered, when the ringing of bells and the firing of 
cannon were proclaiming that the rebels were conquered, 
which, up to this time, so many insisted never could be 
done. Indeed, one of the Democratic papers explained the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 431 

poor showing of the party at that election, on the ground 
that it was impossible to bring out a full vote in such a 
state of things. The Governor, and the State, had gone 
into that war with distinct and righteous convictions, and 
while he counseled well, and led the way, the State rallied 
to his support, and stood by him to the last, with all her 
men and money and moral force, as no State could have 
done better. The State of Connecticut is small compared 
with other States. At that time she had a population of 
less than half a million, (461,000,) while Pennsylvania had 
2,906,370 and New York 3,880,735. With this limited 
population she furnished 54,000 troops to the general gov- 
ernment, which, reduced to the standard of three-years' 
service, made 48,000, reckoned for that length of time. 
The other States all did noble service, and were as prodigal 
of the lives of their sons as they were of their wealth. But 
if Pennsylvania had furnished troops in the same propor- 
tion, she might have supplied McClellan with i wo such 
magnificent armies, as that with which he commenced his 
Peninsular campaign ; and New York could have sent Sher- 
man five such armies as the one with which he marched 
through the whole Southern Confederacy.* At one time 
more than one-tenth of the entire population of the State 
were in the army, and only two States in the Union fur- 
nished more troops for the government in proportion to 
their population. These were Iowa, with her splendid 



* Adjutant General Morse, in Lis final report to the Governor, gives the following 
explanatory and fuller statement of this matter : "It wUl be noticed that in my 
report 1,800 are reported whose term of service is not known. This is to the credit 
allowed by the Naval Commission, and their term of service is to be determined by 
the Navy Department. Thus the State has furnished equal to 48,181 three-years' 
men, from which deduct the total quota, also reduced, to the three-years' stand- 
ard, viz.: 41,483, and the State has a surplus of 0,698 in three-years' men, without 
reference to its quota imder the call of December, 18&4. Under this last call no 
troops were required to be furnished from this State. In fact no quota was as- 
signed. Your Excellency w£is informed, that the surplus under former calls more 
than filled the demand under this, and the State was exempt." In other words, 
Connecticut always more than met the levies made upon her, and was never sub 
jected to a draft 



432 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

patriotism, and more young men in it because of her re- 
cent settlement, and the other, Illinois, with patriotism 
enough, and the additional enthusiasm of having furnished 
the nation with its President. 

As for the character of these troops, such a book as 
" Connecticut in the War," which details their services in 
the field, their sufferings in prison, and heroic deaths in 
the storm of battle ; as well as that roll of honor * which 
contains so many of the highest promotions of the war ; to 
say nothing of the unmentioned and unhonored ones, by 
which such promotion could only have been won for their 
commanders, amazes us. To find so many such characters 
in our own times, and such achievements in our own 
country, and in this work-a-day age, when money making 
and practical politics are supposed to engross everybody; 
to have known these things by our own knowledge, and 
heard them from the lips of our friends and neighbors, and 
felt them to our heart's core, when our sons and brothers 
were brought home to be buried in a soldier's grave, and 
we have gone from the funeral to comfort the widow, and 
provide for the orphans ; gives to such achievements a glory 
which neither age, nor distance, nor the romance of history 
can either intensify or brighten. When, therefore. Gov- 
ernor Buckingham, at the very outbreak of the war, as his 
correspondence with the government already given, shows, 
pressed upon the War Department the acceptance of more 
of his troops, and assured Secretary Stanton that "no State, 
large or small, shall send your Excellency better troops, or 
stand by you in all your embarrassments and perplexities 
more firmly, than this Commonwealth ; " and when he 
assured the President, that " to secure such high public 
interests, the State of Connecticut will bind her destinies 
more closely to those of the general government, and in 
adopting the measures suggested, she would renewedly 
pledge all her pecuniary and physical resources, and all her 



* See pages 292, 293. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 433 

moral power," he was not uttering unmeaning or incon- 
siderate words. 

These loyal governors, who led the nation through that 
stern contlict, were a rare and noble set of men. Not, per- 
haps, that they were so much more patriotic than others 
when all were patriotic, but they were so wise, so steadfast, 
so harmonious and so hopeful of success in the darkest 
periods of the war ; they were so sagacious in their judg- 
ments from the beginning, such wise advisers of the gen- 
eral government, so ready to furnish all the men and money 
that should be needed for any struggle, however desperate, 
and when the period of reconstruction came they were 
magnanimous enough to win the respect and confidence of 
well-nigh the whole South, we may well confer upon them 
the rank of truest nobility. The men who could counsel 
thus, and so command the confidence of their several 
States, and work so well together through these perilous 
times — these were the men who may be justly said to have 
saved the Republic. Some of them had easier work than 
others, but all did their part nobly, and commanded the con- 
fidence and support of their several States to the very last. 

It was the Governor of Massachusetts who sent the first 
armed regiment to fight their way through Baltimore to 
the capital, when other troops who had no arms were 
obliged to turn back. It was Connecticut's Governor 
whose armed troops first reached Washington, provided 
with baggage wagons and ammunition and everything 
needed for the field. Governor Morgan of New York, with 
his great State behind him, sent 220,000 troops to the front 
and put New York harbor in a state of defense. Governor 
Curtin also, with the resources of another great State, 
promptly responded to the first call for troops, and when 
General Patterson, who was in command of Pennsylvania's 
militia, asked for 25,000 more, furnished them also. And 
when these were refused by the Secretary of War, instead 



434 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

of disbanding them, he obtained authority from the Legis- 
lature to equip them at the State's expense and hold them 
subject to the call of the national government, and was 
thus able to honor promptly the frequent and heavy drafts 
made upon him. Governor Morton of Indiana had the 
hardest time of any of them, but held the State firmly 
to the support of the war, though a Democratic Legis- 
lature came into power which refused to receive the 
Governor's message, and was about to take from him 
the command of the militia. The Republican members 
withdrew, leaving both houses without a quorum, when 
in order to carry on the State government and pay the 
State bonds he obtained advances from banks and county 
boards, and appointed a bureau of finance, which from 
April, 18G3, till January, 1865, made all disbursements of 
the State, amounting to more than $1,000,000. During 
this period he refused to summon the Legislature. The 
Supreme Court condemned this arbitrary course, but the 
people subsequently applauded his action, and the State 
assumed the obligations that he had incurred. These were 
the men to whom Mr. Lificoln looked for advice and sup- 
port, and with such support the government dared to under- 
take and successfully accomplished the greatest achieve- 
ments of our history. 

The ending of the war called not only for the recon- 
struction of the Union and the terms upon which the 
Secession States were to be restored, but slavery was to be 
once and forever disposed of by an amendment to the Con- 
stitution. This could only be done by the action of the 
several States, as well as by Congress, so the governors 
had work enough the first year after the war to secure 
the adoption of the amendment, and settle up their State 
accounts with the general government, before they could 
letire from office. This work was done with such wis- 
i.!om and fidelity to their various trusts, that it was the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 435 

crowning glory of their several administrations. In 
Congress, such an amendment had to be adopted by a 
two-thirds vote of each branch of that body before it 
could be submitted to the several States, to be ratified 
by a similar majority of each branch of the Legisla- 
ture. The attempt to adopt it in Congress at the close 
of 1864 failed, though urged by the President in his 
message. But early in 1865, as the war was about to end 
in the triumph of freedom, and when the presidential elec- 
tion had so completely changed the political character of 
both branches of Congress, the amendment was adopted 
there by the necessary majority, and successively adopted 
by three-fou'-ths of the thirty-six States of the Union. 

Wlien the General Assembly of Connecticut met on the 
first Wednesday of May of that year, every Confederate 
army had either surrendered or was disbanding itself. 

In the following language. Governor Buckingham urged 
the immediate ratification of the amendment which was 
forever to abolish slavery : " As slavery has been the 
cause of our woes and our burdens, it is our duty to labor 
for its abolition. An institution antagonistic to liberty, and 
opposed to the first elements of Christianity ; an institution 
which, in its barbarous tendency, planned and perpetuated 
a cowardly, brutal and murderous assault upon freedom of 
speech, and upon fidelity to truth, in the person of a scholarly 
and accomplished statesman in the American Senate; an 
institution which instigated the Rebellion which scored and 
imprisoned our sons, and sent them by tens of thousands 
to the grave by starvation, and which, to crown its work of 
infamy, assassinated the President; has forfeited all right 
to protection and life, and merits our vigorous and undying 
opposition. If, during this struggle we shall sustain the 
general government in the performance of its proper func- 
tions, abolish the inhuman system of slavery, punish 
traitors, and adhere perpetually to the demands of truth, 



436 WILLIAM A. liUCKINGHAM. 

righteousness and justice, we may hope that throughout an 
undivided nation our prosperity will be increased, our peace 
be uninterrupted, and our liberties be eternal." 

A resolution was at once introduced into the House of 
Representatives, adopting and ratifying the Xlllth Amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing 
and prohibiting slavery. "The Democratic leaders prom- 
ised that no opposition should be made to the passage of 
the resolution, provided the yeas and nays were not called. 
Under this agreement, the resolution was passed nem. con.^ 
the Republicans voting 'aye' and the Democrats main- 
taining the stipulated silence. In the Senate, the roll was 
called and the twenty-one Republican Senators voted 'yes.' 
So Connecticut cast her vote for the abolition of slavery 
without a dissentient voice." 

Thus this real climax of the war was reached, and these 
loyal men were all agreed about it, and alike persistent in 
securing it. And when this was accomplished, they might 
well, like the Governor of Connecticut, lay their cares and 
their honors down, and retire at least for a while to private 
life. For history will do them justice, and they must ever 
be regarded as remarkable men, such as have been the 
product of no other age, nor have left to their country and 
to mankind such another bequest of liberty and humanity. 

The reconstructive period of the government, which im- 
mediately succeeded the war, was almost as full of peril as 
the war itself. Upon what terms were the Secession States 
to be received back into the Union ? What penalties were 
to be inflicted upon the leaders of the Rebellion ? What 
privileges were to be given to the emancipated slave, 
and what legislation adopted to make him eventually an 
American citizen, and allow him to vote among a white 
population ? And how could the South be conciliated by 
our consideration and magnanimity, so as to forget the ani- 
mosities of the war, and let us become a truly united 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 437 

people ? These were questions delicate and perplexing 
enough to tax the wisest statesmanship, as well as the best- 
controlled and most Christian spirit. And here was where 
a surprising difficulty was encountered in Mr. Lincoln's 
successor. President Johnson was a strange man, and if 
he had not been so strangely unreasonable and forfeited 
to such an extent the confidence of the country, he would 
have caused the government more embarrassment than he 
did, and have defeated the best results of the war. He 
held that the Secession States were still in the Union ; he 
vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau bill, designed to protect the 
negroes ; he vetoed the Civil Rights bill, which made the 
freed men citizens without the right of suffrage, and after- 
wards the bill giving them the right of suffrage in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia was passed over his veto. And when 
the XlVth Amendment followed,' to carry out and more 
effectually execute the Xlllth, it had to encounter his dis- 
approval and earnest opposition. The President was finally 
impeached before the Senate for violating the provisions of 
the Tenure of Office Act, and on his trial only escaped con- 
viction where three-fourths of the body were required to 
convict, for the lack of one more vote in behalf of the 
prosecutors. Still, in spite of this and every other ob- 
struction in the way of the reconstruction of the Union, 
it was well done, and has been endorsed by all parties and 
all parts of the country. South as well as North, which is 
the highest testimony that could be paid to its wisdom and 
justice, and the necessity for it. 

That Xlllth Amendment, with its few lines and simple 
language, and two clauses, 

Clause I. Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

Clause II. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 



438 WILLIAM A. BUCKLNGHAM. 

is the charter of our freedom and foundation of our Re- 
public. The privileges of the English people, contained in 
their Magna Charta, as wrung from one of their sovereigns 
at Runuymede, were not greater or more fundamental than 
these are to us. But for these privileges, the English mou- 
archs had still been the vassals of the Pope, and England a 
province of France, while but for ours, 4,000,000 of our popu- 
lation had continued to be plantation slaves, " with no rights 
which a white man was bound to respect," and the rest of 
us required to be slave hunters and bound to help keep 
them in that condition forever. It is certainly cheering 
after the alienations of a century and the struggles of a 
civil war, and within thirty years after that war, to have 
one competent from his Southern birth and training, and 
his present position and his Christian spirit, tell us : — 

Living in that section of the country which was last and longest 
cursed hy the institution of slavery, and myself the son of a slave- 
holder, I rejoice beyond expression in the fact and providence of 
emancipation. The hateful thing is dead and buried beyond power 
or possibility of resurrection, and for this all our people are devoutly 
thankful. With an extensive acquaintance over the entire South- 
land, I do not know a single person, old or young, who would consent 
to its restoration. — [Bishop Galloway, of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South, 1892. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Great Britain Called to Account for Building Confed- 
erate Cruisers. 

The Alabama — Our Claims for Damages — The Geneva Award — " How 
I Ran into the Builder of the Alabama" — Napoleon Ill's Latin 
Kingdom in Mexico Disposed of by Our " Monroe Doctrine." 

The end of our war required not only the reconstruction 
of our own government, but also the settlement of important 
matters with foreign governments, particularly Great 
Britain, and France, who had taken advantage of our em- 
barrassments to encroach upon our rights, as they never 
would have thought of doing had we been free to prevent 
it at the time. 

Great Britain had allowed piratical vessels, or " Confederate Cruis- 
ers," as they were called, to be built by her subjects, and sent out to 
prey upon our commerce. This was done to a considerable extent, 
but the most reckless and hostile instance of it was the case of the 
Alabama. This vessel, called by the number of her dock on the Clyde, 
where she was built, "The 290," and built by a firm to which the 
Laird Brothers, one of whom was a member of.Parliament, belonged, 
caused the greatest consternation to our shipping, and it was a long 
time before her depredations could be stopped. She was built in the 
summer of 18G2, and her depredations were not put an end to for a 
full year. In the meantime, under command of an English captain, she 
went to one of the West Indian Islands, and was there joined by another 
English vessel, from which she received her armament, and soon 
after still another brought her Semmes, the former captain of another 
Confederate privateer, and a crew. On Sunday, August 26th, 1862, 
having received her arms, crew and commander, and being in other 
respects ready, "The 290" steamed out of port. When in the open 
sea, Semmes appeared on deck in full uniform, and announced that 
the ship was hereafter the Confederate steamship Alabama. The 
Biitish flag was hauled down, the Confederate hoisted and saluted. 



440 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

The crew were British. On the 2!)th of Aujijust she began her cruise, 
and on the 5th of September made her first capture, burning the ship 
and putting tlie crew in irons. By the close of October, she had 
made twenty-seven prizes. Her manner of operation, as indeed was 
the case with all the Anglo-Confederate cruisers, was to approach her 
prey under the British flag, and when it was captured to hoist the 
Confederate. Semmes then either burnt or bonded his victim. 
Having received a supply of coal at one of the West Indian Islands, he 
lay in wait for the California treasure-ships, capturing one, the Ariel, 
which, however, was outward bound, and therefore not very profit- 
able. On Jauuary 11 he sunk the Hatteras, one of the blockading 
ships off Galveston, having lured her within reach by hoisting 
British colors and hailing as her Majesty's ship, Petrel. He subse- 
quently cruised in the West India seas for a time, and then went to 
the coast of Brazil. He then crossed the Atlantic to Cape Town, 
August 5th, and thence to the Malay Archipelago, which he reached 
in November. After an unproductive cruise of three months in those 
waters, he returned, destroying on his way but few American vessels, 
for there were but few now upon the sea. On the 11th of June he 
went into the French harbor of Cherbourg. — [Draper's " Civil War,'* 
Vol. Ill, p. 201. 

All this, be it remembered, took place when this ship of 
war had no recognized government to issue any such com- 
mission;* had not a port in the wide world where it could 
take its prizes, and have them adjudged lawful prizes by 
consular power, as the laws of civilized nations require. 
Seemingly such a vessel might have been hunted down by 
the navy of every civilized nation, and especially by Eng- 
land's, through whose negligence, if not direct connivance, 
she was proving the pest of all commerce. 

In June, 1864. the Alabama found shelter in the harbor 
of Cherbourg, France, where she found sympathy, but 
where the French government could hardly be said to wel- 
come her for fear of complications with our government. 
This port is only separated from England by the British 



* The only commission which this ship had was the following : Captain Semmes 
took command, and drawing up the crew read his commission as a port captain in 
the Confederate Navy, and opened his sealed orders in which he was directed to 
hoist the Confederate ensign and pennant and "to sink, burn and destroy every- 
thing which flew the ensign of the so-called United States of America." 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM 441 

Channel, and our ship of war, the Kearsarge, was at Fhish- 
ing, not far off, and came with all haste at the call of our 
French minister, Mr. Dayton, to look after her. Without 
entering the port, Captain Winslow lay off the harbor, 
sailing back and forth, as a challenge to the Alabama to 
come out and fight, which could not be done within the 
harbor. Captain Semmes, confident that he could meet any- 
thing of her class, and encouraged by those whoso wishes 
were for his success, and who flattered him with the assur- 
ance of it, sailed out of the harbor on the morning of the 
19th of June, when the Kearsarge led off with the Alabama 
in pursuit, until they should both get more than a marine 
league from the shore. Then the Kearsarge turned short 
about and steered directly for her antagonist, intending to 
run her down, or if that was not possible, to engage her at 
close quarters. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, the 
atmosphere a little hazy, with a gentle breeze blowing from 
the west. Many vessels had followed the Confederate 
corsair, and she had encountered many more on that path- 
way of commerce, while the shore was lined with spectators 
to listen to the guns if they could not see the ships. Cap- 
tain Winslow was determined that if skillful seamanship 
and desperate fighting could win the battle, it should be 
done. When the Alabama had come within a mile of the 
enemy, she turned her full broadside upon her, and began 
firing rapidly, but doing little damage. Another and 
another broadside came from her, still without much harm 
to the Union vessel except to her rigging. 

The Kearsarge was now within nine hundred yards of her enemy, 
and had not yet fired a shot; but her commander, apprehensive that 
anotlier broadside, which would have raked her, might prove dis- 
astrous, sheered his vessel and opened on the Alabama. The vessels 
now lay broadside and broadside, and Winslow, fearing that Semmes 
might make for the shore, made up his mind to keep full speed on, to 
run under the stern of the Alabama and rake her. To avoid this 
Semmes kept sheering, and as a consequence tlie two vessels, with a 



442 WILUAiM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

full head of steam, fell into a circular track which continued during 
the whole cnf^a^rmcnt. The firing of the Alabama was at first rapid 
and wild. On board the Kearsarge the firing was much more delib- 
erate. The Confederate fired some two shots to one fired by the 
Kearsarge, but with little effect. Only three persons were wounded 
on the national vessel, of whom one afterwards died, while nearly 
every shot from the guns of the Kearsarge told fearfully on the 
Alabama. Six times the vessels had circled around each other, the 
Alabama, with all her noise and fury, doing little damage, while the 
steady fire of the Kearsarge was working havoc on the decks and hull 
of the Confederate. At last, on the seventh rotation, Semmes, per- 
ceiving the battle was lost, tried to take flight for the shore of France. 
His port broadside was then presented to the Kearsarge with only two 
guns bearing. Winslow now saw that his enemy was at his mercy, 
and poured his shot into her, and in a few moments had the satisfac- 
tion of seeing a white flag displayed over her stern. A moment later 
the Alabama lowered her boats, and an officer came alongside the 
Kearsarge, informing Winslow that the ship was sinking. Twenty 
minutes later she went down by the stern, her batteries rushing aft 
weighing her down, her bow rising high out of the water. The 
Alabama had sunk before the Kearsarge was ready with her boats to 
rescue the Confederate crew. While Winslow was lowering his boats 
for this purpose, he took notice of the English yacht Deerhound, 
which had steamed out from Cherbourg to watch the fight, and 
requested John Lancaster, her owner, to assist him in picking up the 
drowning men. The latter instantly availed himself of this request 
in a manner which amazed the commander of the Kearsarge. In ten 
minutes after the request was made, the English captain had Semmes 
and about forty of his officers and men on board, and then steamed 
away to the English shore.— ["'History of Abraham Lincoln," Vol. IX, 
p. 150. 

This was the source of much indignation on our 
part, while the English press justified it. This whole 
business of building Confederate cruisers by the English, 
led to a serious complication of relations between this 
country and Great Britain, which fortunately resulted 
in a reference to an arbitration at Geneva, that settled 
the matter to the general satisfaction of both parties. 
Our minister in London at that time was Mr. Adams, 
who, like the other members of that distinguished family, 
had sound judgment, fearless integrity, and a patriotism 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 443 

which no flattery could corrupt nor statecraft mislead. He 
repeatedly called attention to the construction in England 
of vessels to be used by the Confederacy, one being the 
Florida and another the Alabama. Lord Russell, on the 
part of the British government, disclaimed knowledge of 
the facts, and did not see how his government could prevent 
what was said to be going on. In the meantime Mr. 
Adams was collecting proof of the ownership of the 
Alabama, and the use to which she was to be put, 
and also secured " the legal opinion of one of the most 
eminent English lawyers, Mr. Collier, afterwards Lord 
Monkswell, declaring positively that on the case as pre- 
sented it was the duty of the Liverpool authorities to detain 
the vessel, and that they would be incurring a heavy respon- 
sibility in allowing her to go." On account of these 
communications, the law officers began their leisurely 
examination, and sent orders to stop the vessel. But before 
they were executed the Confederate cruiser Alabama was 
gone, and on her way around the world, a besom of destruc- 
tion to our commerce and a sad reproach to the British 
government, and for which she was afterwards to answer.* 
At this time the unfortunate Peninsular campaign was 
being carried on, and hope for Union success was not so 
bright as it had been before and was afterwards. The 
wrong was borne for the time. Later, when we had suc- 



* For the sense of v?Tong which we felt in this crisis of our war for such unjusti- 
fiable aid to our enemies, and at the almost uniform utterances of England's public 
men and her Parliament in sympathy with the Confederacy, and assured prophe- 
cies of their success ; and £ilso for England's persistent denial of the wrong she 
had done us La building those rebel cruisers, and for the "' easy indifference, if not 
contempt." with which for six years she treated our reasonable and generous 
offers to settle all claims for damages, and prevent their repetition in the future, 
the reader is referred to Mr. Blaine's "Twenty Years in Congress," Vol. II, Chap. 
XX. It was not until the Franco-Prussian war showed what damage might have 
been done to either of those belligerents by such a disregard of neutrality laws, 
and until President Grant proposed to Congress to pay the Alabama claims out of 
the United States treasury, as showing that the British government would always 
be held accountable for them, that England was wiUing to settle those claims upon 
any terms, and in hot ha.=!te 8nbmitte<i them to the Geneva arbitration. 



444 WILLIAM A. BUCKIN(JHAM. 

ceeded, the Britisli government became alarmed by the 
position in which it found itself, and asked for an adjust- 
ment of this difficulty. For when she should be at war 
with any nation, even the weakest, we had only to interpret 
our neutrality treaties as she had done, to build ships of 
war ior her enemy, and make a formidable enemy of the 
weakest. So when some adjustment of the matter was 
sought for, we proposed a reference, and to settle it by 
arbitration, as a fair and improved method of adjusting 
such international difficulties, which was done. It was not 
effected, however, until 1872 — ten years after these wrongs 
were done us — under President Grant's administration, when 
the "'Alabama Claims," as they were called, were referred 
to a court of arbitration, which held its session at Geneva, 
Switzerland, in September of that year, and awarded the 
United States the sum of $15,600,000, which was paid. 

" Twelve Confederate crusiers figured in the so-called 
Alabama Claims settlement with England, named in the 
order of the damage inflicted by each. They were: the 
Alabama, Shenandoah, Florida, Tallahassaee, Georgia, Chick- 
amauga, Sumter, Nashville, Retribution, Jeff Davis, Sallie 
and Boston. The actual losses inflicted by the Alabama, 
$7,050,293.76, according to claims for ships and cargoes 
filed up to March 15, 1872, were only about $400,000 
greater than those inflicted by the Shenandoah. The sum 
total of the claims filed against the twelve cruisers for ships 
and cargoes up to March 15, 1872, was $19,782,917.60, all 
but about $6,000,000 of it being charged to the Alabama 
and Shenandoah. 

On May 8, 1871, the Treaty of Washington was con- 
cluded, in accordance with which a Tribunal of Arbitration 
was appointed, which assembled at Geneva. It consisted 
of Count Frederick Sciopis, named by the King of Italy; 
Mr. Jacob Staempfli. named by the President of the Swis.s 
Confederation; Viscoint d'ltajuba, named by the Emperor 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 446 

of Brazil ; Mr. Charles Francis Adams, named by the Presi- 
dent of the United States, and Sir Roundell Palmer (after- 
wards Lord Selborne). The United States was represented 
by William M. Evarts, Secretary of State; Caleb Gushing, 
an old diplomat, and Morrison R. Waite, afterwards Chief 
Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Claims were 
made by the United States for indirect and national losses, 
as well as for the actual private losses represented by nearly 
$20,000,000 on ships and cargoes. 

The Tribunal decided that England was in no way re- 
sponsible for such indirect and national losses. ("War 
Book," Vol. IV, p. 625.) 

As showing among other things the manner in which 
this award was regarded in Great Britain, the author in- 
serts here an article written by him after a visit to England 
in the summer of 1877, soon after General Grant was there. 
It records also his own judgment of the award at the time, 
which has not been materially changed since. It was writ- 
ten to be printed, though never published, under the title : — 

" How I Ran Into the Builder op the Alabama.!' 

"In the summer of 1877, I was traveling in Great 
Britain, and at the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin, fell in with 
an intelligent gentleman and his most agreeable wife. I 
knew he was an Englishman, as he must have known that 
I was an American. He had traveled extensively, having 
been in Australia, as well as over Europe, and was re- 
markably well acquainted with business matters in this 
country, though he had never been here. I suppose we 
were both cautious, I certainly was, not to get upon sub- 
jects where we should disagree, and so the day was past 
and the dinner hour in most agreeable conversation, and 
with no collision of opinions. As I was to leave in the 
morning, I took occasion to sit down with them the last of 
the evening for another talk, in which I expressed my 



446 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

gratification in having met with tlicm, and the hope that 
we might meet again. I expressed some surprise that in 
all their travels they had not visited us, and said : ' I hope 
we shall some time see you over there. Wo shall be glad to 
see you.' To this his wife, in an arch and mischievous way, 
replied : ' Perhaps, if you knew who he is, you might not 
be so glad to see him.' Suspecting nothing more than 
mischief from her frank and gleesome manner, and even 
now unable to understand how she could have let the secret 
out to an American, I drew her out imtil I found that her 
husband was one of the Laird Brothers, the Liverpool ship- 
builders, and one of them a member of Parliament, who 
had built the Alabama. The revelation, it must be con- 
fessed, stirred my indignation, but controlling my temper 
and speech, we were soon engaged in discussing the 
subject of our war, and the recent Geneva Award. His 
justification was, that they all believed that our war must 
prove a failure, and if the government was to be broken up, 
they might reap whatever benefits they could from our de- 
struction ; the very principles of a wrecker, who sees a ship 
driving upon the rocks, without either helpfulness or pity, 
but waits for her to break up, and then to go in for the 
wreckage ; — only in this case the wrecker goes in with all 
his iieart and might to help wreck her. 

" This gentleman soon made complaint of the Geneva 
Award as excessive. Fifteen million and a half ! It was 
admitted that it might be excessive, so far as actual 
damages were concerned, though as our government 
reckoned them up, and was proposing itself to pay these 
several sums to the claimants, they were nineteen million 
or more. But this did not begin to cover the indirect 
damages, for it had driven no small part of our com- 
merce from the ocean, or at least had compelled it t) 1)0 
carried under some other flag, and there was iic> tcUum 
when, if ever, we should recover our fair amtjunt of the 



WILLIAM A. DUCKINGHAM. 447 

carrying ti'ade of the world. For this the award was 
certainly no adequate compensation. 

"A question was then asked, and in seriousness, which 
surprised and irritated me, so that I replied that I 
thought if be realized the bearings of that question, he 
never would have asked it. The question was: ' Is your 
government never likely to repay any part of that excessive 
award? And why is that such an improper question?' 
The answer was : ' Your government was very anxious 
when our war was over to settle that difficulty. You could 
not afford to leave the interpretation of Neutrality Laws and 
Treaties an open question. You are much more likely to 
be engaged in foreign wars than we are, and if not with 
some of your powerful neighbors, such as France, gr Rus- 
sia, where our aid to strengthen their navy would be most 
to your injury ; — if it were only with some inferior power 
you were fighting, and we could build all the war ships for 
them that they needed, even then it would play mischief 
with your widely extended commerce. The truth was, that 
when our war was over and the Union safe, wc were so 
well satisfied that wc could afford to be magnanimous, and 
instead of being resentful for your unfair treatment of us, 
we were willing to let you find out for yourselves that the 
wrong you had done us must bo rectified, if you were ever 
to feel secure from such a danger. Why, if we had wished 
to repay your wrong, and you were engaged in war with 
any nation, we had only to interpret our Neutrality Laws 
and Treaties as you did, to have gone into the business of 
building piratical cruisers for them as you did for the Con- 
federacy. If you had got into war with the Feji Islanders, 
we could have built Alabamas for them and swept your 
commerce from the ocean. Do you understand what I 
ineant, when I expressed surprise at your asking such a 
question ? ' After that we parted on good terms, but with 
a better understanding, I must think, on his part, of what 



448 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

their business firm, and their government had been doing, 
without realizing what a wrong they had done, and in what 
a peril they had involved their nation, [Note page 461.] 

" It was gratifying to see the respect and high honor 
bestowed by the English people upon our ex-President, 
General Grant, who had so recently been there. It was 
difficult to account for it, and the people themselves seemed 
unable to explain it. In visiting Windsor Castle, one of 
the officials pointed out the wing of the castle and suite of 
rooms where, as he said, ' your General Grant ' had just 
been entertained. He said that the Queen showed him 
attentions such as were scarcely shown to royalty itself. 
She took him to ride with her through the park. And 
when I asked, ' Why did you treat him with so much 
consideration ? ' his answer was, ' Oh, we liked him ! 
we liked him ! ' We hardly expected any profound an- 
swer from such an official. But we made up our 
minds that they admired the honest, sensible, straightfor- 
ward pluckiness of Wellington in him, and also that 
they were anxious to make in some measure the amende 
honorable for their lack of sympathy with us in our strug- 
gle, and the wrong they had done us in building privateers 
for the Confederacy. 

"Thank God that is all over now, and the sympathy 
of blood and language, and civilization and religion, have 
resumed their influence, and are together the most powerful 
and hopeful influence in the world's future." 

Another international difficulty which had arisen during 
our war, and which threatened trouble under our " Monroe 
Doctrine," was also successfully disposed of. 

The French Emperor, Napoleon III, who had been anx- 
ious to recognize the independence of the Confederacy, but 
was unable to induce either of the three great powers of 
Europe, Great Britain, Prussia, or Russia — the latter espe- 
cially being strongly opposed to it — to join him in it, thought 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 449 

it a good time to carry out a favorite plan of his own, 
while our hands were tied, and in the confidence that the 
Confederacy would succeed in establishing an empire of 
its own. His plan was to overthrow the government of 
Mexico as a republic, and establish a monarchy, and the 
papacy with it, both of which had been overthrown in 
Mexico. So, with the sanction of the Pope, he fitted out a 
military expedition to Mexico in the summer of 1863, who 
called together those who were opposed to the Republican 
government under Jurez, and organized an " Assembly of 
Notables," which decreed the following revolutionary form 
of government : — 

1. The Mexican nation adopts, as its form of government, a 
limited hereditary monarchy, with a Catholic prince. 

2. The sovereign shall take the title of Emperor of Mexico. 

3. The imperial crown of Mexico is offered to his imperial and 
royal highness the Prince Ferdinand Maximilian, Archduke of 
Austria, for himself and his descendants. 

4. If, under circumstances which cannot be foreseen, the Archduke 
of Austria, Ferdinand Maximilian, should not take possession of the 
throne which is offered to him, the Mexican nation relies on the good 
will of his majesty. Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, to indicate 
for it another Catholic prince. 

This form of government was nominally submitted to the 
people, and by them adopted, but it was when Mexico was 
occupied by a French army, which held Pueblo and the 
city of Mexico, and this form of government was immedi- 
ately overthrown when the French troops were withdrawn, 
showing that it was never adopted by the people, but forced 
upon them by military power. 

Maximilian, however, accepted the offer, and was brought 
over by a French fleet, and crowned Emperor of Mexico, 
and Carlotta as Empress. But in the meantime our war 
had ended in our favor, and the French Emperor at onre 
found himself obliged to abandon this enterprise, and leave 
this poor young prince and princess to their miserable fate. 



450 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Maximilian was forced to abandon his capital, and, broken 
down in health and spirit, was soon after arrested, tried 
and executed for treason, while Carlotta, a devoted wife 
and superior woman, having hope in her own personal and 
family influence, hastened to Europe to plead with the 
French Emperor, and the Emperor of Austria, to interfere 
in behalf of her husband. 

The reason of it all was, that the " Monroe Doctrine," as 
it was called, whatever it might mean, and whether 
enforced or not, made Napoleon draw back from his 
ambitious enterprise of founding a Latin empire on this 
continent, as soon as we were in a condition to protest 
against it, and had power to push that protest, if it was 
considered necessary. It is not generally known that our 
position upon this subject was pressed upon us for adoption 
by Lord Canning, the British statesman, and was intro- 
duced by President Monroe into his message to Congress in 
1823. It was earnestly advised by ex-President Jefferson, 
who, in his letter to Mr. Monroe, says: — 

Our first fundamental maxim should be never to entangle ourselves 
in the broils of Europe; our second, never to suifer Europe to meddle 
with our cis-Atlantic affairs. America, North and South, has a set of 
separate interests distinct from those of Europe, and peculiarly her 
own. She should, therefore, have a system of her own, separate and 
apart from that of Europe. While the last is laboring to become the 
domicile of despotism, our endeavor should surely be to make our 
hemisphere that of freedom. One nation (England), most of all, 
could disturb us in this pursuit. She now offers to lead and accom- 
pany us in it. By acceding to this position, we detach her from the 
bands of despots, bring her mighty weight into the scale of free 
government, and emancipate a continent at one stroke, which might 
otherwise linger long in doubt and difficulty. Great Britain is the 
nation which can do us the most harm of any one on all the earth, 
and with her on our side we need not fear the whole world. With 
her then we must most seiiously cherish a cordial friendship, and 
nothing would tend more to unite our affections, than to be fightr 
ing once more side by side in the same cause. It is only protesting 
against the atrocious violations of the rights of nations by the inter- 
ference of any one in the inteinal affairs of another, so flagrantly 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 451 

beguu by Napoleon I, and now continued by the equally lawless 
alliance calling itself holy.* 

These ideas are summed up by President Monroe in his 
message in the statement of the principle in which the 
rights and interests of the United States are involved, that 
the two continents by the free and independent condition 
they have assumed and maintained, are lienceforth not to 
be considered as subjects for future colonization by any 
European powers. And especially when such colonizations 
are organized as hereditary monarchies, and with the 
Roman Catholic church as the established religion, the 
right is claimed of protesting against it, and of carry- 
ing such protest as far as may be thought expedient to 
prevent it. 

It was such a protest on our part against the invasion of 
Mexico by a French army and the establishment of an 
hereditary monarchy under a Catholic and foreign prince, 
and our ability to enforce that protest if necessary when 
our war was over, that made Napoleon withdraw his troops 
and abandon his Austrian prince to his fate. And so this 
protest has answered its purpose for the greater part of a 
century without our being obliged to resort to force, and 
80 may it prove in the future. 



* This means the " Holy Alliance " entered into in 1815 by Russia, Austria and 
Prussia, for the maintenance f»f " peace and the establishment of existing 
dynasties." 

Note.— Page 448, As showing the perverted judgment of the English people in 
respect to this matt-r. Bishop Brooks tells us what Tennyson, one of our good 
friends, and whom we held in high honor, said to him : ' ' We should think you 
would be ashamed to keep that award," while we were wondering that they were 
not ashamed to cause us such loss. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

United States Senator. 

Governor Buckingham's Terra in the Senate — His Share in Main- 
taining What Had Been Gained by the War— Some of His Work 
—His Death Shortly Before the Expiration of His Term of Office. 

When the war was over, and the interests of Connecticut 
were well settled with the general government, and Gover- 
nor Buckingham had held his office eight years, he declined 
re-election, and in 1868 was sent to the United States 
Senate. 

In the meantime he had met with a sore domestic bereave- 
ment in the death of his wife. He had been singularly 
favored and happy in his family relations. His wife, Eliza 
Ripley, belonged to an old, large and respected Norwich 
family of eight children, who mostly settled in the town, 
and had families of their own, which of themselves made 
a considerable social circle, but concerned as they were in 
all the interests of society, it rather indicates the breadth 
of their intercourse and abounding hospitality. A Thanks- 
giving dinner with twenty or more at the table, an evening 
party of a score of nephews and nieces and several times 
that number of their young friends, the daily entertain- 
ment not only of men in public life, but of ministers, mis- 
sionaries, students, or some neighbors from the old Lebamn 
home, which was near, were matters of course. And 
it was hospitality as sincere and unstinted as could be 
found anywhere. No one who ever enjoyed it, and espe- 
cially was accustomed to share in it, could forget the 
parents and the daughter * who constituted the family, and 



* This daughter became the wife of General William A. Aiken of Noi-wicli, ami 
the mother of a larg-e family, where they now reside. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKLNGHAiM. 453 

who were never weary in contributing to the comfort and 
enjoyment of their guests. The mother, a great-hearted 
woman, full of the tenderest sympathy, with hands wide 
open to want, and with sufficient means at her disposal, 
always had a company of dependants who knew that as 
long as she lived they would never be deserted, and when 
she died cherished her memory as they would few of their 
own kindred. To her own husband, she was for forty 
years all that a wife could be in tender affection, efficient 
helpfulness, and as sharing their Christian faith and im- 
mortal hopes together. And nothing could have expressed 
more fittingly the estimation in which he cherished her 
memory than the inscription he had chiseled upon the fam- 
ily monument under her name : — 

'*I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." (Phil, i: 3.) 

Her death was a sad bereavement, and especially when he 
was released from the cares of state, to enjoy his family and 
friends the more. Indeed, his election to the United States 
Senate had little interest to him at that time, and especially if 
he must go to Washington without taking with him the de- 
voted wife and true helpmeet of his life. Notwithstanding 
this, he purchased a residence in Washington, and contributed 
his part to the social life of the capital and to the enter- 
tainment of strangers, with one of his wife's nieces to pre- 
side over his table and household, who will be pleasantly 
remembered by those who shared his hospitality there. 
How he accepted his bereavement and bore it like a Chris- 
tian, may be seen from his reply to one who extended his 
sympathy, and to whom he wrote as follows : — 

I am Etreatly obliged for your kind and sympathetic letter. You 
knew Mrs. Buckingham quite well, for she carried her heart in her 
face and her character was perfectly transparent. There was no 
deceit and no guile. She humbly trusted in Christ, lived to please 
him, and in the hour of trial he was true to his promise and did not 
forsake her. Her end was peaceful. While I sorrow and mourn, I 



464 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

also rejoice in God's goodness tons. My heart was never so large 
before. Until now it never held so much sorrow and so much joy; 
sorrow that the light of my dwelling is removed, and joy that she has 
gone where there is "no need of the sun, nor of the moon to shine, 
for the glory of God and the Lamb" are the light of her present 
dwelling place. 

Governor Buckingham was elected to the United States 
Senate in 1868, and took his seat March, 1860, for the 
term of six years. This was the first session of the Forty- 
first Congress, when the Republican ticket of Grant and 
Colfax swept the country by 214 electoral votes, to eighty 
for Seymour and Blair. It was the indorsement by the 
country of the administration which had carried through the 
war successfully, and especially disposed once and forever 
of Secession and slavery. President Lincoln had been 
assassinated four years before, just as he was entering upon 
his second term of office. Vice-President Johnson, who 
succeeded to the presidency, soon broke away from all sym- 
pathy with his party, and in a strange and reckless way set out 
to defeat their plans of reconstruction. What he had done 
added greatly to the difficulties of President Grant's position, 
and multiplied obstacles to the reconstruction of the Union. 
Indeed, it seemed as if there was never to be any end of 
these obstacles and difficulties. And it only increases our 
respect for the statesmanship and patriotism of the men 
who managed our national affairs through all that perilous 
period, and intensifies our gratitude to that good Provi- 
dence which raised up and guided our statesmen, as well as 
inspired the nation with such intelligent and self-sacrificing 
patriotism. 

And if Congress under President Johnson's administra- 
tion, and in spite of his hindrances, made a good beginning 
in the work of reconstruction, and secured the adoption 
of the amendments of the Constitution which abolished 
slavery, and gave the freedmen the rights of citizensiiip, 
and received the Secession States back into the Union, iind 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 455 

all this had been accomplished before General Grant came 
to the presidency ; still there was work enough left, and 
and of this kind, for the new President and his administra- 
tion. The new amendments of the Constitution were to be 
carried out, and the spirit of them enforced so far as pos- 
sible, and this required much and difficult legislation. 
Political disabilities were to be removed from individuals 
and classes for their connection with Secession, which was 
done until " more than 3,000 participators in the rebellion, 
among them some of the most prominent and influential, 
were restored to the full privileges of citizenship ; the rule 
being, in fact, that any one who asked for it, either through 
himself or his friends, was freely granted remission of 
penalty." Provision was also to be made for the national 
debt, for taking off the tariff and taxes of the war, and for 
a good banking system, all of which was done greatly to 
the credit of President Grant's administration. Before his 
second term of office was ended, he liad also frightened the 
French out of Mexico, satisfactorily settled our Alabama 
claims against England, and adjusted all our boundary ques- 
tions with Great Britain, some of which had been in dispute 
ever since the government was organized, so that he could 
say in one of his last messages, and ninety years after the 
close of the Revolutionary war : '' We are permitted to 
add that for the first time in the history of the United 
States as a nation, we are left without a question of dis- 
puted boundary between our territory and the possessions of 
Great Britain on the American continent." Whatever may 
be thought of his unsuccessful attempt to annex St. Do- 
mingo, the bitter and personal attacks made upon him for 
it in Congress, and by a portion of the press, led him, in 
his last message to Congress, nearly six years after the 
controversy had closed, to restate his reasons for it, and in 
self-vindication, he said : " If my views had been con- 
curred in, the country would have been in a more [)ro8- 



466 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

peroiis condition to-day, both politically and financially;" 
and adds : " I do not present these views now as a recom- 
mendation for a renewal of the subject of annexation, but 
I do refer to it to vindicate my previous action in re- 
gard to it." 

Wiiile Senator Buckingham was a reliable supporter of 
President Grant and his administration, he was decidedly 
opposed to this St. Domingo project, and in one of his 
letters to a friend thus characterizes it : " You may notice 
the President's message relating to St. Domingo. The 
message is well enough, but the people are not. I know 
not what follies the people may commit, but to annex St, 
Domingo, to this government would be folly and a crime. 
Instead of being a source of revenue, it will cost us millions 
every year." And when congratulated on the defeat of 
the measure, he writes of it as follows : " You speak of 
the St. Domingo question as being at rest. I hope it may 
prove a permanent sleep, but tliis I do not anticipate. 
The President may never publicly urge the annexation 
of that part of the island again, but there are men who 
have pecuniary interests to be promoted by an annexation, 
which will not let it rest. Those most interested may keep 
in the background, but they will push forv/ard their agents, 
who will adopt measures to accomplish their object, and 
the claim will be made that they utter the voice of the 
people. This is what I fear and what I expect, and I shall 
regard it as a favorable Divine interposition if the scheme 
can be finally defeated." 

It was in such a state of things, and the legislation that 
was required at such a critical period of our history, that 
Senator Buckingham entered the Senate, and for six of 
those important years of President Grant's administration, 
he gave the President his confidence and support. In all 
those matters of reconstruction and adjustment to the new 
order of things which kept coming up, and in those "car- 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 467 

pet-bagger" corruptions, and " Ku-Klux " outrages, and 
" Credit Mobilier " frauds, he bore his share of responsi- 
bility of investigation and judgment. But it was particularly 
in hard and faithful committee work upon currency and 
commerce, and especially as chairman of the Committee on 
''Indian Affairs, and chairman of a special committee to 
investigate frauds in the New York Customhouse, that 
he displayed his good judgment and even temper and 
conscientious regard for the highest standard of personal 
integrity. 

One of his early speeches in the Senate was upon the 
removal of disabilities and the restoration of political privi- 
leges to those who had been implicated in the rebellion. 
And from one who held to such strict principles of justice 
and retribution for such a crime as treason (which we all 
of us cherished in the stress of the war, and which were 
only modified when the South surrendered, and we were 
ready to welcome them back upon almost any terras), it 
was perhaps hardly to have been expected that he should 
have been so lenient and magnanimous toward such crimi- 
nals. It was within a month after President Lincoln's as- 
sassination that he thus expressed, in his annual message 
to the Legislature, the general sentiment of loyal people : — 

Leniency without distinction between loyalty and treason, is 
more certain to subvert the government than is rebellion itself. 
Clemency at the sacrifice of justice, is abandonment of the govern- 
ment. Every field of carnage, every rebel prison, every soldier's 
grave, and the blood of the martyred President, unite with a violated 
law and demand the penalty. Let it be indicted, beginning with the 
leaders in crime, and let it be followed up with a firm hand until the 
innocent and the loyal shall be conscious of security under the vindi- 
cated majesty of the law. Then, and not till then, may we safely 
restore forfeited rights, and extend forgiveness with a beneficent 
prodigality. — [Message of 1864. 

No wonder Senator Piatt, in referring to this utterance 
at the unveiling of his statue, asks : " Who shall say 



468 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

that he was wholly wrong? And yet he was one of the 
kindest of men, full of the tendcrest sympathy, ready to 
overlook a fault, with an almost womanly love for his 
friends. Who shall say that it is not mistaken clemency 
which pardons unrepentant crime ? Who shall say that 
such mistakes, though lauded as generosity, do not in the 
long run bear bitter fruit ? " And yet with such stern 
convictions of the necessity of law, and penalty, and the 
infliction of it upon such men as the leaders in Secession, 
and the instigators of a civil war, and the inaugurators of 
such a state of things as led to the assassination of Mr. 
Lincoln, the Senator from Connecticut advocated the bill 
for the removal of legal and political disabilities from the 
mass of the Confederates. He saw that the state of things 
had changed, and that the disposition of the conquerors 
was to be generous and magnanimous toward their mis- 
guided enemies. So many had been relieved of their 
disabilities, that the rest ought to be. So that he now 
welcomed them to " every right, every privilege, every 
position." And he adds : " 1 shall welcome them, either 
with or without repentance, but with the hope — a hope 
based on desire rather than conviction — that this relief 
from merited punishment, and their full restoration to all 
the rights of citizenship, will inspire their hearts with 
loyalty to the government, and cause them to be truly the 
friends and supporters of Republican liberty." We all 
feel alike satisfied now, that there was no persistent prose- 
cution of the Secessionists, and that there were no martyrs 
made for the South to worship, especially when the era of 
good feeling between the South and the North had so 
well begun. 

Through his whole term of service in the Senate he served 
upon the Standing Committees on Commerce, and perhaps 
here was his best work done, as his business experience 
and sound judgment were constantly selected for such 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 459 

service. Among other things, he worked out with care a 
phvn of elastic currency, which, though not adopted, showed 
his familiarity with the subject, and anxiety to perfect the 
system. Hie ideas of national credit, and the strictest 
responsibility of the government for all its engagements, 
such as the most conscientious individual would feel, he 
insisted upon, and deprecated the least deviation from that 
standard. Thus he criticises at one time the reactionary 
legislation of the government upon its finances, as follows: 
" Of the balance outstanding there is now $382,076,837.50 
in legal tender notes, and $49,102,661.27 in fractional 
currency. These notes are not money. They are evidence 
of debt which the government has promised to pay in coin, 
the recognized currency of the civilized world. The obliga- 
tion is most sacred and binding, and has so pressed upon 
the national conscience that Congress has solemnly pledged 
the faith of the government to make provision at the 
earliest practical period to redeem the promise, and yet but 
one step has been taken with direct reference to meeting 
those obligations, which, after the redemption of f 44,000,- 
000 of legal tender notes, was retracted by reissuing 
$28,000,000 of the same irredeemable paper. And now, in- 
stead of doing your utmost to preserve national integrity, 
and maintain national faith by your legislation, you open 
the door for a new issue of currency which will diminish 
your ability to redeem pledges already made." 

The most discouraging position held by Senator Bucking- 
ham was that of chairman of the Committee on Indian 
Affairs, a fjosition which he held for his whole senatorial 
term, and yet this is where he showed his patience, hopeful- 
ness, and fidelity to a great trust. The chairman of that 
committee had need to be always on the watch against 
some invasion of their rights. And if he could secure 
their rights here and improve their condition there, save 
their lands from occupation or misappropriation, improve 



460 WILLIABI A. BUCKINGHAM. 

their agencies and schools, and prepare them somewhat for 
their citizenship which should come, it was ail that could 
be expected. When Senator Buckingham was put upon 
that committee, he wrote as follows to a friend : " It is a 
responsible and honorable position, but full of embarrass- 
ment and difficulty. Public sentiment in our States in the 
extreme West and Southwest is strongly in favor of their 
extermination by direct and indirect means. But I hope 
that a remnant may be saved, civilized and Christianized. 
But what 1, as a seuntor, want, is that the government 
should deal with them justly and mercifully." And it 
was with this end in view, that he was always on the 
alert to protect his wards, and improve their condi- 
tion. As an illustration of his work and tact in doing 
this, we remember how a bill was introduced author- 
izing the arming of the settlers to protect themselves 
against the Indians, when the Senator proposed, as an 
amendment, to arm the Indians to protect themselves 
against the settlers, which, of course, disposed of such a 
measure. This was the beginning of that work which 
Senator Dawes of Massachusetts has so successfully prose- 
cuted until he has secured to them, as to the negro, a {)er- 
sonal title to their property, and ultimately bestowing upon 
them the full rights of citizenship. This might well satisfy 
any statesman's ambition, to have prepared the way for 
and especially to have secured to a whole people of savages 
all the essential rights and privileges of the highest modern 
civilization.* 



* Amonf? tliosu who have greatly aided in bringing about the Improved condition 
of things among both the negroes and the Indians, General Samuel C. Armstrong, 
principal of the Hampton Institute, Va., should never be forgotten. The son of a 
missionary in the Sandwich Islands, he had learned of his parents, as he said, 
" never to despair of the elevation of the most degraded people, and also how to 
elevate them," had enlisted in the war when a student in Williams College, had 
risen for services in the field to the rank of brigadier general, and had induced the 
government to let him enlist and drill a colored regiment and then put them into 
I he trenches before Petersburg, where they did themselves credit. lie was granted 
a freedman's camp when the war was over, where he might educate colored 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 461 

The most thankless and disagreeable work of a congress- 
man must be to investigate irregularities in the departments 
of government, or to prosecute charges of corruption 
among their own number, as Senator Buckingham found it 
when chairman of the committee to investigate frauds in 
the New York Customhouse. Some of his friends urged 
him not to undertake the work, but his ideas of duty would 
not allow him to decline it. 

But his senatorial term was nearly completed, and so was 
his earthly work. That was the long session of Congress, 
and as it continued quite into the summer, the extreme 
heat and long sessions wore upon him until he went home 
quite worn out and his condition a great source of anxiety 
to his friends. It was hoped that rest would restore him, 
and his physicians encouraged that hope. But it proved 
that he had a serious disease of the liver, and though it 
yielded somewhat to treatment, and he was not confined to 
the house through the autumn and early winter, his disease 
was making steady progress, and terminated in death after 
a brief confinement to his bed. He died at his home in 
Norwich, Ct., February 6, 1875, at twenty minutes past 
12 in the morning, in the seventy-second year of his age. 



teachers for the South, and where Indian youth of both sexes have since been 
received and sent back to their tribes witli the elements of education and ordinary 
civilization. Ho has demonstrated beyond a question the practicability of such a 
scheme, and surprised everybody by its marked success. Captain Pratt, also of 
the regular army, and principal of the Indian school at Carlisle, Pa., should have 
his share also in the glory of such results. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Estimates of Character and Service. 

Extracts from the Newspaper Articles Drawn out by Governor Buck- 
ingham's Death — Eulogies in Congress — The Funeral Services. 

As showing how his death affected the community, we 
reier to an article in one of the Norwich papers — The 
Bulletin : — 

Entered Into Rest. 

Death of the Hon. William A. Buckingham — The Last of 
Connecticut's War Governor and Senator — Close of a 
Spotless Life, and End of a Brilliant Career. 

The Hon. William A. Buckingham died at his home in this city last 
night. Mr. Buckingham had been in ill health for several months, 
and grave apprehensions of its result had been entertained. On 
Saturday last he drove out and that evening appeared as bright and 
cheerful as usual. On Sunday, however, he seemed very much pros- 
trated, and subsequently was seized with intense pain, for the allevi- 
ation of which opiates were administered. Up to this time, although 
feared, no symptoms of positive disease had shown themselves, 
his failing health being attributed to general causes. Dr. Smith 
of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Yale College, was summoned on 
Monday and reached his bedside at 5 o'clock p. m.* On examination 
it seemed that the obscure disease which he had feared at a former 
visit, had developed into active inliammation of the liver and bowels, 
and from this time no hope was entertained of his recovery. But 
little could be done to mitigate his sufferings. On Thursday he be- 
came insensible, and though he appeared to rally, there was nothing 
more than circulation and respiration to show that he still lived. He 
died calmly and peacefully without pain, his breath and pulse grow- 



* It was Dr. David P. Smith, an army surgeon through the war, and at one time 
at the head of the medical depaitment of General Thomas' Western army. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 462 

ing fainter and slower until they ceased. All that could be done by 
his devoted friends was done until he quietly expired at twenty min- 
utes past 12 o'clock. 

Mr. Buckingham was born in the town of Lebanon, May 2Sth, 1804. 
His father was a farmer in that place, and until he was eighteen he 
assisted in the general work of the farm. He then taught school in 
Lyme for a year, and shortly after, at the age of about twenty, entered 
a dry goods store in this city as a clerk. His education was that fur- 
nished by the academy of his native village, and also by the superior 
advantages of Bacon Academy, Colchester. Though he developed an 
aptitude for study and esjjecially for mathematics, his nature was too 
strong and practical to admit of the sedentary habits of a student, 
and he decided upon entering mercantile pursuits. When only 
twenty-one he established himself in the dry goods business, in which 
he continued till 1848. Energy, prudence and economy brought him 
success, and while still a young man he was known as one of the 
most enterprising and prosperous merchants of the city. In or about 
1830 he commenced the manufacture of ingrain carpeting, a business 
which he prosecuted till 1848, when he retired from commercial pur- 
suits, and devoted himself solely to the various manufactures in 
which he had by this time become largely interested. His chief con- 
nection in this line was with the Hay ward Rubber Company, of which 
he was for many years treasurer and active director, though he was a 
stockholder in a number of other concerns. 

From the time of his first residence in Norwich, he was a practical 
temperance man, and a devoted friend of education. In 1830 he 
became a member of the Second Congregational church, and ten 
years later was one of the organizers of the Broadway church, being 
elected one of its deacons at that time and holding the office to the 
period of his death. For nearly forty years he was a teacher in the 
Sunday school, and bis influence was always exerted in favor of the 
religious and educational movements of the time. In his charities 
toward these and every other good cause, he was proverbially gener- 
ous. He gave the organ to the Broadway church, and subsequently 
built its mission chapel. To this church and the church in Lebanon 
he gave permanent funds. He gave largely to the Free Academy, and 
also to Yale College, his life being insured for the benefit of the Yale 
Divinity school. He was an earnest advocate of the consolidation of 
the school districts of Norwich, and the present admirable system of 
graded schools is largely due to his foresight and energy. During the 
war he not only refused to receive any remuneration for his services 
as Governor, but met a large portion of his official expenses from his 
private purse. He was a man of great liberality, and one whose ear 
was never closed to the cry of distress In his private charities he 
was equally generous, and these amount to a much greater sura than 



464 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

4 

his public gifts. He loved to do good uuostentatlouslj', uud while 
no man was recognized as a more generous giver, no one can know 
how far his beneLictions extended. Not alone to the circles of political 
and social life in which his days were passed, will the announcement 
of his death bring sorrow; there are scores of homes in Norwich 
where want is struggling with industry, on which it will fall with a 
sense of personal bereavement, and many others where it will be read 
with tears as over the loss of a friend and benefactor. 

Up to the year 1849 he took no prominent part in politics, though 
his ability, high standing and great popularity made him eminently 
eligible as a candidate. In 1842 he was nominated for the State Legis- 
lature but was defeated, and though repeatedly solicited, declined to 
run for any office till seven years later, when he was elected Mayor of 
the city. He held the position two years, and was re-elected in 1856 
and 1857. With the disruption of the Whig party he joined the Repub- 
licans, and in 1858 was by them elected Governor of Connecticut, 
holding the office by consecutive re-elections for a period of eight years. 

It was here that he first gained a national reputation, his name 
throughout all the dark days of the EebcUion being a synonym for 
unfaulteriug loyalty and fidelity to the Union. Like John A. Andrew 
of Massachusetts, he was known as the "War Governor," and like 
him he possessed that magnetic, unwavering earnestness in the cause 
he espoused, which was a constant stimulus to all to whom his 
influence extended. As the men who put on the visible armor were 
the bone and sinew of the nation at that time, so he, and those who 
stood with him, were the nerve and vital forces which sustained and 
encouraged them. The incalculable moral strength of his position 
was of more value than thousands of armed men. With all the ten-i- 
ble strain upon his nervous powers, with the great demands made 
unceasingly upon his mind, with all the heavy responsibihties of his 
office under which a weaker man, though animated by the same pure 
patriotism, would have succumbed, with all this be never yielded. 
His energy was untiring, his confidence and loyalty unwavering. 
They were men like him who a century ago framed the republic; 
they were men like him who saved it. His duties were never per- 
functorily discharged; he was a patriot and a man as well as the chief 
magistrate of the State, and those who were associated with him at 
that time know how ardently he gave his personal aid to any work for 
the Union. Whatever came to his hand, that he did; whether packing 
boxes for hospital use, or filling cartridges in a moment of emergency, 
he carried with him that sanguine, encouraging enthusiasm which 
men felt with a thrill in the fervid proclamations of the early part of 
the war. There is perhaps no better illustration of his spirit than is 
afforded in his message in 1863, just after the bloody repulse at Chan- 
cellorsville, when he spoke there words of hope and unyielding 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 465 

determination: "The conflict inaugurated at Sumter must go on 
until the government shall conquer or be conquered. Let no one be 
deceived by the artful device of securing peace by a cessation of 
hostilities, or by yielding to the claims of our enemies. A peace thus 

obtained would cost a nation's birthright Civil war is cruelty. 

Its fruits are desolation, sorrow and death. Fear, hesitation and a 
timid use of the forces of war will eventually increase these terrible 
sufferings. They will be diminished by courage, vigor and severity. 
. . . . Whatever of trial, suffering or privation maybe in store for us, 
or however long may be the controversy, firm in the faith that our 
nation will be preserved in its integrity, let us in adversity as well as 
in prosperity, in darkness as in light, give the administration our 
counsel, our confidence, and our support." 

A history of his life at this time would be a history of the state of 
things during the war, so completely was he identified personally as 
well as officially with the political, military, and social movements of 
those turbulent times. He retired from the gubernatorial chair in 
1866, declining a re-election. For two years he remained in private 
life. In 1868 he was elected to the United States Senate, his term not 
being completed at the time of his death. He served on several im- 
portant committees, among them that on Indian Affairs, of which he 
was chairman, the Committee on Commerce, and for a time on that on 
Engrossed Bills, and also on others of a special nature. He was capable 
of a vast amount of detail work, and it was in this capacity that he 
rendered his best services. Though not often prominent in debate, 
be was a ready speaker, his addresses being marked by grace and 
fluency of expression, as well as soundness of treatment. His judg- 
ment and ability, especially in matters of commercial and financial 
importance, were recognized, and his opinions on questions of national 
policy carried great weight. During the present session of Congress 
he was prevented by ill health from discharging the duties of his 
ofifice, and remained at his home in this city during the winter. 

In private life Senator Buckingham was characterized by great 
sweetness of disposition and an urbane courtesy in his social relations 
which won the sincere regard of all with whom he was personally in 
contact. His observance of the social amenities was not limited by 
class prejudice; no one, however humble in condition, ever received 
from him any but the courteous consideration which was extended to 
his own associates, and in this undoubtedly lay one of the most 
powerful elements of his great personal popularity. He possessed 
that polished dignity of manner which we of this day characterize as 
the gentility of the old school, and the refinement of its minor details 
was strongly marked in all his habits of life. This was not the result 
of his birth or breeding; it was simply the outgrowth of his nature, 
in which there was nothing common or undeau. He was one of 



466 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

those rare meu to whom all tbinss are pure, avIio recognizing tlie gross- 
ness of the world, can meet it and pass on undeliled; and the refine- 
ment of his manner was merely the exponent of the refinement and 
purity of his taste. This was greatly strengthened by the strong 
religious convictions which he received in early life, and by which he 
was controlled until his death. He was widely known as an exem- 
plary, laborious Christian, and no man better deserved than he the 
title which has been applied to others in derision, of "Christian 
statesman."' His religion was not reserved for the uses of private 
life; the great underlying principles of Christianity were those whose 
motive force directed him hi all his official action, and his public 
career was in thorough consistence with them. 

In the Avords quoted above may be found the formula of his polit- 
ical life, and to the end of it was the one to which he clung. He 
believed in the great principle of exact and equal justice to all men; 
his political creed was based on this one article, and through all 
his political career his action was in harmony with it. He was 
a partisan, not in the narrow interpretation of the word, but in 
that broader sense which makes fealty to party dependent upon fealty 
to right. He was not a politician, neither was he a great statesman, 
but he was great in his probity, patriotism and purity of life, and 
unobtrusively he wielded a vast influence for the good. His associ- 
ates know him for Avhat he was. During his continuance in the 
Senate, no member was recognized as a more assiduous, conscientious 
worker in the country's service for the country's good than he, and 
none carried more weight with his utterances on any subject. His 
recognized abilitj', his never-questioned integrity, and his adherence 
to principle, will be sadly missed in the councils of the nation. Not 
many men there are, whose characters have been developed and 
whose reputations made in the unhealthy atmosphere of political Ufe, 
who can leave behind the bright, unsullied record which the dead 
Senator has left. His memory will be ever green and fragrant; no 
taint of political corruption adheres to it; no malevolence can ever 
tarnish the purity of his life. In public and in private life, like him 
who was loved of God, he walked uprightly before men. And with the 
full remembrance of all the honors which had been pressed upon him. 
of all the great successes of his life, no better or truer epitaph can be 
produced over his grave than that which he himself would have 
desired: '"A man of honor, and a Christian gentleman." 

The above article is quoted as showing the estimation in 
which Senator Buckingham was held in his own State, and 
in the community where he was best known. And a simi- 
lar quotation is made from one of the New York papers. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 467 

The Times, as showing how he was regarded outside of 
Connecticut, and in the great metropolitan center of the 
country : — 

Ex-Govemor and Senator William A. Buckingham died at his home 
in Norwich, Conn., about midnight last night. Governor Buckingham 
approached the time of the assembling of Congress this winter with 
a frame enfeebled by disease, and has been unable to take his seat in 
the Senate at any time during the session. The vigor of the physical 
man was broken, and he gradually failed until he sank beneath an 
attack of acute disease, leaving to his native State a name eminent 
for its spotless purity and sterling virtue. 

He was born in the quaint old town of Lebanon, eminent in Con- 
necticut from its first settlement for the fervid patriotism and the in- 
tellectual activity of its people. This town is the birthplace of five 
gentlemen who have enjoyed gubernatorial honors, viz. : Jonathan 
Tnimbull, the old War Goveraor of the Revolution, whom in many 
respects the War Governor of the Rebellion, Governor Buckingham, 
resembled to a remarkable degree ; his son Jonathan Trumbull, and 
his grandson .Joseph Trumbull, also Governor Bissell, who together 
held that oflBce thirty-five years. Governor Nelson Dewey of Wis- 
consin was also a native of this town. Inheriting the iron constitu- 
tion and intense convictions of his Puritan ancestry, William A. 
Buckingham spent there a profitable youth, forming upon the farm of 
his father, and in the schools of the vicinity, the strength of charac- 
ter and love of country that enabled him afterwards to bring to the 
service of the State an exalted patriotism and devotion not surpassed 
in the history of our civil war. He was educated in the public schools 
of Lebanon, and at the Bacon Academy in the neighboring town of 
Colchester, which institution at that time stood higher than any 
other in the State, and even enjoyed a national reputation. Here 
Governor Ellsworth, Chief Justice Waits of the Supreme Court of Con- 
necticut, father of the late Chief Justice Waite of the Supreme Court 
of the United States; Hon. Henry M. Williams, Judge of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania, and Lyman Trumbull, Senator from Illinois, 
were students, among a host of others, who afterwards were prominent 
in public life. Among associates of that stamp, and in a town asso- 
ciated with a thousand thrilling Revolutionary memories, William A. 
Buckingham rose to manhood. A special taste for mathematics, and 
the impulses of an energetic nature, led him at first to desire the 
career of a practical surveyor. But neither that, nor school teaching 
to which he devoted himself for a year, satisfied him. He went to 
Norwich at the age of twenty and engaged in business. He entered 
the store of Giles & Hamlin Buckingham, then almost the only dry 
goods dealers in the city. After two years spent there, and a year in 



468 WILLIAM A. BUCKINCHAM. 

a wholesale bouse of New York city, he established himself as a dry 
goods merchant at Norwich. The enterprise, exact dealing, and spot- 
less honor, that have always distinguished him, were manifested from 
the beginning of his first business essay, and contributed to bis suc- 
cess. In 1830 be began the manufacture of ingrain carpets, and con- 
ducted it for eighteen years. In 1848 be discontinued all other forms 
of business effort, and engaged in the manufacture of india-rubber 
goods in connection with Messrs. Hayward & Burr, under the name 
of the Hayward Rubber Company. In this business be amassed 
the generous fortune which he has so lavishly bestowed to aid public, 
educational and charitable enterprises in the city of his residence, 
the State and nation. At the time of his death he was a stockholder 
in six or eight manufacturing enterprises, to all of which he gave 
more or less of his time and attention. The characteristic feature of 
bis long individual and mechanical life was not so much the execu- 
tive ability he displayed, for that is a trait which hundreds of New 
England manufacturers possess, in equal if not superior degrees; but 
it was the infallible keeping of bis business engagements, his genius 
for managing men, and ability to awaken enthusiasm in his service. 
It is told of him, in illustration of his punctuality in business affairs, 
that in a jjeriod of active effort of forty years' duration, only two of 
his notes were protested for non- payment, and those only through 
disability from sickness. The trait powerfully increased his useful- 
ness during the war. 

William A. Buckingham adhered to the religion of his forefathers. 
Descended from Thomas Buckingham, one of the members of the 
original colony of New Haven, and from the Eev. Thomas, his son, 
who was one of the settlers and minister of Saybrook, and from 
whom the Governor was directly descended, he was trained in a 
family of Puritans, and gave his life-long devotion to the cause of the 
Congregational church. In 1S38 he made a report to the Second Con- 
gregational church of Norwich, which resulted four years after in 
the formation of the present Broadway church. He gave the new 
church an organ, and built a chapel for one of its Sunday schools. In 
1865 he was moderator of the first National Congregational Council 
in Boston. In 1850 he witli others founded the Otis Library of Nor- 
wich. He was proverbially liberal in his support to all such objects. 
Large benevolence, a desire to do something for the race and tlio age, 
led him to bestow generous gifts upon the Norwich Free Academy 
and Yale College. And all bis gifts were entirely devoid of ostentation. 

Governor Buckingham was always a decided politician. For many 
years his interest in affairs was only actively manifested in the manage- 
ment of party. Things were continually going wrong with the old 
Whig party of Eastern Connecticut, and William A. Buckingham was 
almost always the man called in to set things right, which in a quiet 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 469 

sort of way, by his personal influence, he had a magical faculty of doing 
He decliued several nominations to the State Assembly, but like an 
eminent official whom he afterwards met under peculiar circum- 
stances, was often elected alderman of the city of Norwich, and in 
1849 and 1856 was twice elected mayor for terms of two years each. 
In 1857, at the time of the election of President Buchanan, be was a 
presidential elector from Connecticut, and with bis associates cast 
the vote of the State for the minority candidate, a common experience 
with the old Whig party. In 1857 a number of gentlemen in Norwich 
resolved to propose him as the Republican candidate for Governor of 
the State. By the simple circumstance of the detention by snow of a 
train bearing fifteen or twenty delegates from Windham county, who 
would have voted for him, they failed to nominate him. There are 
those among his friends that now regard this as a providential occur- 
rence. Had he been chosen in 1857, by the rule upon which the party 
acted then, he would have been re-elected and then retired, without 
an opportunity of showing his singular fitness for the position of 
war governor of Connecticut. But elected to the chief magistracy of 
the State in 1858, he was upon re-election brought so near to the mael- 
strom of events attendant on the breaking out of the war, that 
public necessity comjielled the State to continue him in office, and he 
made his distinguished record. 

"At the close of 1860, Governor Buckingham, who had been watch- 
ing the drift of pubjic events carefully, announced the conviction that 
compromise with the South was an impossibility, and he required of 
the militia of the State their immediate perfection in discipline and 
equipment. In his capacity of Governor of a patriotic State, he sug- 
gested to the delegates of the State in the peace conference of Feb- 
ruary, preceding the outbreak of the war, to be governed by a 
conciliatory spirit, but to have special regard to the measures which 
tend to maintain the dignity and authority of the government." He 
never was a policy man, and there was something electrical in his 
fearless and uncompromising words that roused the State to enthusi- 
asm. The right man was at the helm, and in the spring canvass he 
was re-elected by the State by an increased majority. The call for 
troops awakened in Governor Buckingham the spirit of the soldier 
and the leader. The Legislature was not in session; no powers had 
been conferred upon him by law. With an energy and devotion 
worthy of the Revolutionary i^atriots of Lebanon, he immediately re- 
solved to pledge his own ample fortune to the work of raising Con- 
necticut's quota of troops. His life of unsullied integrity and 
reputation for sound judgment here stood him in good stead. Hardly 
had he determined to apply for a loan of $50,000 from the old Thames 
bank of Norwich, before that sum was tendered him by the Elm 
City bank of New Haven, for use on his individual obligation. The 



470 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Thames bank followed by $100,000; Hartford banks united to offer 
$500,000, and in a comparatively few days $1,000,000 had thus been 
placed at his personal disposal by the banking institutions of the 
State. His call for a regiment of men was immediately issued. 
While the State was aglow with the excitement of enlisting these 
men. Governor Buckingham dispatched his son-in-law, General 
Aiken, to Washington, to make his way through all obstructions, at 
whatever hazard, and pledge to President Lincoln the last man and 
the last dollar of Connecticut. General Aiken had a great deal of 
difficulty in accomplishing his mission, but did succeed at length, 
and brought to the government the first tidings received during that 
perilous first week of the rising of the North. The First Regiment of 
Connecticut volimteers was raised in four days. In six days a second 
regiment was enlisted, and in three weeks a third regiment was 
raised and in camp, and Connecticut had tendered fifty-four com- 
panies to the defense of Washington, or five times the quota of the 
State. These achievements were due to the personal power and 
promptitude of Governor Buckingham, more than to any other one 
thing. May 8d the Legislature ratified all that the Governor had 
done, and assumed all obligations for raising the troops. Whatever 
may have been the motives or influences that impelled men of great 
eminence at Washington to announce their belief in a termination of 
the war in "sixty days." Governor Buckingham did not share them. 
He perceived the magnitude of the rebellion clearly, and was em- 
phatic in his statements that the sixty-day doctrine immensely under- 
estimated the importance of the crisis. In June he wrote to Mr. 
Lincoln, urging that steps be taken to raise an army of 500,000 men. 
" Let legislation on every other subject," he said, with reference to 
the extra session of Congress called, "be regarded as out of time and 
place, and the one gre^t object of suppressing the rebellion be pur- 
sued by the administration with vigor and firmness." Governor 
Buckingham fully believed that more men would be immediately 
required, and he lent every capacity of mind and soul to the matter 
of awakening the State and the government to the fact. Ex-Governor 
Seymour and William W. Eaton were carrying on a vigorous fire in 
the rear at this time and agitating strenuously for peace. In spite of 
their efforts, the State remained loyal to Governor Buckingham and 
the Union, and it shows the effect of his teachings on the popiUar 
heart of Connecticut, that in October the Legislature convened in 
special session and gave him carte blanche to act in the matter of rais- 
ing troops. Two million dollars were raised, in addition to the $2,- 
000,000 already provided for, and were placed at the unrestricted dis- 
posal of Governor Buckingham. It was a proof of confidence in his 
judgment and patriotism, which the records of the imperial States of 
the Union will be searched in vain to surpass. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 471 

Governor Buckingham was re-elected to the chief magistracy of the 
State seven times, serving for a period of eight years. Throughout 
the war his course was marked by the same intrepid support of the 
administration that distinguished its beginning. The calls of the 
government were always more than faithfully honored. Every quota 
was more than filled, and a moral support was brought to the eman- 
cipation and other great measures of the war that the administration 
thoroughly appreciated. No war governor had greater inlluence at 
Washington. Anything he wanted for the troops in the field was 
granted. Where others failed he succeeded, and the advantage to 
which he turned this fact in securing benefits for the troops, together 
with his well-known private benefactions to soldiers at home, earned 
for him the title of "the soldier's friend," a phrase which bore a 
world of meaning to those who knew him. 

Governor Buckingham's course at the time of Mr. Lincoln's assassi- 
nation was fully illustrative of the man. From the date of his 
majority he had been an earnest advocate of the cause of temperance, 
and a few weeks prior to the assassination had electrified the nation 
by one of those sword-like thrusts at culpability in high places, for 
which he was noted. In his proclamation of the annual Fast Day in 
Connecticut, issued March 1.5, he had recited, among the causes for 
pain, that " the oath of fidelity to the Constitution, and to high official 
duty, has recently been taken with a stammering tongue, in the pres- 
ence of, and to the reproach of, the American people." This keen 
rebuke to a national shame was announced throughout the country. 
Under these circumstances, almost any other man beside Governor 
Buckingham would have hesitated to go immediately to Washington, 
as he did, to convey to President Johnson the assurances of Connec- 
ticut's determination to yield him a loyal support. This, however, 
was what Governor Buckingham did at once. He left Norwich by 
the afternoon train of Saturday for the national capital. A party 
was formed to escort him, and also to escort Senator Foster of Nor- 
wich, who by Mr. Lincoln's death became Vice-President of the 
United States. It was composed of General Aiken, Colonels Osgood 
and Selden, Henry Bell, Mayor Day, Lorenzo Blackstone, Doctor 
Thurston and Major J. B. Dennis. They reached Washington the 
following day, and immediately repaired to the presence of Presi- 
dent Johnson, to whom Senator Foster introduced them. Governor 
Buckingham grasped Mr. Johnson's hand warmly, and with tears in 
his eyes, pledged to the President of the United States the unfaltering 
support of Ctmnecticut, and was the first Governor in that crisis who 
did so. Mr. Johnson was greatly moved, and earnestly assured the 
Governor that, whatever the past, no one should surpass him in the 
future, in purity of devotion to the Union. 

In 1869 Governor Buckingham took his seat in the Senate of the 



472 wiLLi.vM A. buckin(;ham. 

United States. The record of his connection with that body has 
been a creditable one. He was capable of an unlimited amount of 
hard work, and it was upon the various committees of the Senate 
that his influence was most felt. Throughout the term of six years 
he has served upon the Standing Committees on Commerce and Indian 
Relations, and twice served on special committees, once to investi- 
gate the affairs of the New York Customhouse, and once to investigate 
the charges of bribery against Senator Pomeroy. He participated 
frequently in debate, and exerted a marked influence in financial 
and Indian questions by his candor, sound judgment, and graceful 
method of presentation of what he had to say. It is, however, as 
War Governor of Connecticut that he will be the longest and most 
widely known. 

In his social life Governor Buckingham was an attractive man. 
Whoever met him, either in his elegant home in Norwich, or in 
social circles at the State and national capitals, never failed to be won 
by his charming manner. He had all the dignity of the old school 
gentleman and the affability of the thorough-going Republican, and 
while he knew all the advantages accruing to a public man from the 
possession of these traits, it was well said of him that these qualities 
were the natural product of the man. He was of the best type of a 
Christian gentleman that society produces. And statesman, citizen 
and soldier alike, will cast upon the grave of William A. Bucking- 
ham not only laurels due to distinguished public worth, but the 
flowers of affection and admiration for what he was as a man. 

The Last of Earth. 

A Day of Sorrow — Funeral of the Late William A. Bucking- 
ham — Sincere Manifestations of Grief — An Impressive 
Civic Funeral — The Public Services. 

The above is the announcement of his funeral which took 
place at Norwich, the 9th of February, 1875. And the 
account continues : — 

The last honors to Connecticut's War Governor and Senator were 
paid Tuesday. They were given in no perfunctory spirit, but with a 
depth of feeling and a tenderness of expression which showed how 
strong a hold the dead Senator had upon the people. Though the 
day was one of bitter cold, the streets Avere filled with hundreds from 
out of town, many of them having driven twenty miles or more in the 
early morning to reach the city, and the later trains were crowded 
with others from all parts of the State and country. 



WILLIAM A. BDCKINGHAM. 478 

The Senate of the United States was represented by its 
Sergeant-at-arms and Senators Sherman of Ohio, Stevenson 
of Kentucky, Fenton of New York, Washburn of Massa- 
chusetts, and Hamlin of Maine. Governor IngersoU 
of Connecticut and his staff were also there, as were 
Governor Buckingham's old military staff, consisting of 
Colonel Osgood, Colonel W. Fitch, Colonel T. Fitch, Gen- 
eral Morse, Colonel Watson and Colonel Bond. These 
acted as a guard of honor around his casket, while Colonel 
Selden, for three years his military secretary, Messrs. H. B. 
Norton, A. W. Prentice and B. W. Tompkins, his old 
neighbors and friends, were the pall bearers. The train 
from Hartford brought many friends from among the 
business men and public men of the State, who had vigor- 
ously sustained him in the prosecution of the war, while 
the train from New Haven brought an equal number, and 
among them a very considerable number of the faculty of 
the University, whose interests he had befriended. It was 
meant to be entirely a simple and ordinary New England 
funeral, with the customary religious exercises and nothing 
else, such as an ordinary man would prefer. There was no 
military display or ceremony, and to those of us who had 
witnessed the troops and grand parades of his inaugurals 
as Governor, it was felt to be in best keeping with his 
character and wishes to be looked upon for the last time in 
his own home, borne thence to his place of worship, and 
thence followed to the cemetery, where his wife and so 
many of his old neighbors and friends were sleeping, to 
rest among them. 

Speaking on this point, the account goes on to say : — 

It was fitting that this was so, for Senator Buckingham was a man 
of the people and for the people, and it was to the benefit of these 
classes that his best energies were directed. The absence of empty 
pomp and display was in accordance with all his tastes. But no 
nobler tribute was ever paid to the memory of a public man, than 
that expressed by the great popular demonstration of Tuesday. 



474 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Throughout the day there was a general suspension of business, 
and in the afternoon tlie banks and post office were closed. All the 
flags of the city were at half-mast, and many private buildings were 
dressed in mourning. At 10 o'clock the doors of Senator Bucking- 
ham's residence were thrown open, and the throng which had been 
waiting for some time began to pass in, under the guidance of a force 
of police stationed in the yard. The Senator's remains lay in the 
north parlor of the house, in a plain, rosewood casket. A superb 
crown fashioned of white flowers stood near the head, and a cross and 
anchor rested on the lid; on a table near by were another crown of 
laurel and a large form worked in evergreens and grains. Around 
the casket, as a guard of honor, stood the members of his old military 
staff. From 10 o'clock to 12 the throng was continuous and dense, 
over 2,000 person?, it is estimated, visiting the house in that time. 
The throng was so great that there could be no lingering by the coffin, 
and none had more than a momentary glance as they passed by, but 
no one who watched that heterogeneous assemblage as it moved on, 
and saw the tearful eyes which were bent upon the well-known face, 
could help recognizing with almost a sense of awe, how strong and 
universal was the love in which the dead Senator was held. The con- 
trast between the peaceful expression on his face and the mourning, 
which was only in part restrained as the wave of humanity rolled by 
him, was touching. His countenance was calm and restful; death 
had softened the lines which care and anxiety had written in it, and 
though emaciated and worn, he looked like one who being weary had 
fallen into a pleasant sleep. As one stood beside him it was hard to 
realize that it was the sleep from which there was no waking; that 
with him all earthly toils and earthly honors were past, and yet as 
one looked at the noble face with its strong, sharply cut features, it 
was easy to imagine that it was purified by a new tenderness; that a 
light from the other world had shown upon it, and that the joy 
of hope accomplished and promises fulfilled had left their radi- 
ance there. 

The doors of the house were closed at noon, after which no one was 
admitted. The relatives and friends then assembled, and a short 
prayer was made by Rev. Mr. Merriman, the pastor. Shortly after 
1 o'clock the casket was removed to the hearse and was carried to 
the Broadway church. 

From the house to the church the street was crowded so 
that there was barely a carriage way kept open for the pro- 
cession. The church could not contain all who would have 
entered, and it was a pathetic part of the scene to find the 
crowd waiting there in the cold at zero until the services 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 475 

within were over, to accompany the procession to the ceme- 
tery, a mile or more away. 

The services at the church were simple. The choir 
chanted, " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," and 
sang, "Who are these in bright array?" also Mendelssohn's, 
" Oh! that I had the wings of a dove," which to some of us 
will be always associated with his upward longings, and the 
wish stirred within us that we could have joined him in his 
flight. Dr. Arms, one of the pastors of the city, read the 
ninetieth Psalm, and the venerable Dr. Bond, under whose 
ministry Senator Buckingham had been trained as a young 
man, offered prayer. The Rev. Mr. Merriman, his pastor, 
then paid a just and heart-felt tribute to his parishioner 
and deacon and good friend, and the mournful procession 
set out for the grave. Arriving there, the Rev. Dr. Giesy, 
one of the Episcopal clergymen of the city, read their ser- 
vice over the interment, while a thousand hearts responded 
to its Christian faith and immortal hopes, and comforted 
their grief in what God had done for their friend, and what 
he had done by him for others, and in the memory and 
example which would be forever left to that community 
and become a permanent part of the history of the State 
and of the nation. 

The death of Senator Buckingham and the remem- 
brance of his war services called out notices of him 
from every quarter and many an honorable tribute to his 
memory. And the estimate of him which came from so 
many quarters, and the tributes paid to his worth and use- 
fulness, furnish probably the best means of judging of the 
man and of his life work that we could have. 

One of the early sketches of him was by Professor 
Porter, afterwards president of Yale University, and pre- 
pared for the " New England Historical and Genealogical 
Register " (January, 1876). In connection with a full and 
exact account of his genealogy and his training for his 



476 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

public life, President Porter gives, from a life-long and 
personal acquaintance, the following convictions in regard 
to him : — 

At the time of his election to the office of Governor, neither he nor 
his friends anticipated what was before him. Had either known or 
even dimly foreboded that the office from being little more than a 
place of easy routine and formal administration, would be suddenly 
transformed into a post of the most serious responsibility, involving 
perplexity, toil and anxiety, both he and his friends would have hesi- 
tated in thinking that he was the fittest man to fill the place, and to 
fill it so long. No one would have dared to predict that he would 
meet its responsibilities with such distinguished success. But in 
review it may be confidently affirmed, that fi'om the time when the 
first mutterings of war were heard, to the moment when they died 
in silence, no citizen of the State was ever thought of as in any re- 
spect superior to, or comparable with the noble "War Governor" 
who represented the State of Connecticut. Whether his relations are 
considered to the executive of the United States, to the Governors of 
the other States, to the party in Connecticut opposed to the war, to 
the soldiers and officers from Connecticut, to the men who were re- 
cruited or drafted, who were sick or in prison, to the banks and men 
of business all over the country, to the American people as far as 
they knew him, his fitness for his place was unquestioned. Whether 
on horseback at an election parade, or in a public reception, whether 
reading his own messages or speaking at a sudden call, often under 
very trying circumstances, whether writing stirring letters to Presi- 
dent Lincoln, or addressing regiment after regiment as each hurried 
away to the field, whether conferring with his staff or trusted friends 
in sudden exigencies, he was always heroic, patient, self-controlled 
and courteous. His messages and correspondence were not only 
among important documents in the history of the war, but they re- 
flect the highest honor on the mind and head of their author. His 
own clear and practical intellect discerned earlier than many prac- 
tised statesmen what the issues were, and how stern and lasting the 
struggle would be. His decisive and, ringing words bespoke serious 
and painful forebodings on the one hand, but they breathed out 
courage and triumi)h on the other. Ho wrote and spoke as a prophet, 
because he wrote and spoke from those firm convictions which were 
inspired by his faith in right, and in the God who had defended the 
right in the past and could not desert it in the present. 

The writer of this sketcli knew Senator Buckingham from before 
the beginning of his public career to the end of his life, and had 
frequent opportunities to judge of him in almost every one of the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 477 

relations which have been named. After abating all that might be 
required from the partialities of personal friendship, he can honestly 
give his testimony that a conscientious sincerity and a graceful sym- 
metry gave the strength and beauty to a character which other gener- 
ations may reasonably hold in honor. 

The Rev. Dr. I. N. Tarbox also published a " Memoir" 
of Senator Buckingham in the " Congregational Quarterly," 
April, 1876, in which he gives a very particular account of 
his ancestry and family, and a graphic sketch of the 
remarkable old town ot Lebanon, the place of his birth 
and the home of the Trumbulls. 

Of the Senator's parentage, he says : " His father was a 
thrifty farmer, a deacon in the church, a man of remark- 
ably sound judgment and common sense and a public-spirited 
man, abounding in hospitality. His mother was one of 
those women in whom the strong qualities of the Puritan 
stock came to a flowering and a fruitage of celestial quality — 
a rare union of strength and sweetness. She always had a 
mother's ambition for her children, but always directed to 
the best things. ' Whatever else you are, I want you to be 
Christians,' was one of her daily household sayings. Her 
memory is cherished in the records of many words and 
deeds of love and beneficence, written not with pen and 
ink, but in the fleshly tables of the heart, in all the region 
where she lived. She came from the old town of Lyme, 
fruitful in good influences and in good character. The 
mother of Chief Justice Waite of Connecticut and the grand- 
mother of the late Chief Justice of the United States was her 
sister, and in that town they were all born and educated." 

And here he brings to view one member of the family, 
whom he knew personally, and was an important influence 
in that family. " The oldest child in this household was a 
daughter, about three years older than her brother. A 
sister standing in such relations of age is not to be over- 
looked in computing the influences which circle about the 



478 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

mind and heart of the growing boy, and especially in this 
instance these influences are not to be forgotten, for all 
witnesses agree (and the facts are within the personal 
knowledge of the writer) in ascribing to Abigail Bucking- 
ham a saintly beauty of character. Her thoughts, hopes 
and aspirations were not in the line of common earthly 
ambitions, but were set towards choice and refined culture, 
and a heavenly purity of heart and disposition." 

Of the town of Lebanon Dr. Tarbox gives these remark- 
able particulars r — 

From this quiet town, on the hills of Eastern Connecticut, an influ- 
ence went forth through all the years of the Revolutionary struggle, 
such as flowed from no other place, large or small, in all New England. 
This was the home of Governor Jonathan Trumbull, who held the 
office of governor from 1769 to 1783, and then resigned, having been 
for fifty years in one form or another without interruption in the 
public service. By the peculiar charter of Connecticut, the colonial 
governors were chosen by the people, and not appointed in England. 
And so Governor Trumbull was on the side of the people, while the 
governors generally in the other colonies were appointed abroad, and 
at the opening of the Revolutionary strife, acted for the home govern- 
ment and against the people. This of itself tended to give Governor 
Trumbull a peculiar prominence in that war, and to make Lebanon a 
peculiar place. 

And he quotes Governor Hawley of Connecticut, in his 
address delivered in the Hall of Representatives at Wash- 
ington, after Senator Buckingham's death, as saying of 
Governor Trumbull : " Every other colonial governor went 
with the king. Brother Jonathan stood by the people, and 
they stood by him, from the beginning to the end — the 
square, straight, solid, brave, indomitable old man." 

Not only were the Trumbulls inhabitants of the town, 
but the three governors, father, son and grandson, and that 
large family of distinguished sons and daughters, and sons- 
in-law, as Joseph, Washington's first commissary general ; 
Jonathan, Jr., his first paymaster and private secretary; 
David, commissary of the colony in the Revolution ; John, 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 479 

our distinguished historical painter, and Mary, the wife of 
William Williams, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, and their characters all of the highest type 
of integrity, patriotism and Christian principle. But as 
Dr. Tarbox has said : " There is not probably in all New 
England another place of the same population that can 
point to so many eminent graduates of colleges among her 
sons as Lebanon. Some happy, favoring influences set this 
stream in motion, and once started it flowed on, broadening 
as it ran. Some of the ablest ministers of New England, 
and some of her ablest lawyers and judges, came from 
this town. Among the earlier ministerial names we find 
such as these : Dr. John Smalley, Dr. Eliphalet Williams, 
Dr. Elijah Parish, Dr. Ezra Stiles Ely, Dr. Ralph R. 
Gurley, and Dr. Walter Harris. In civil life the result is 
no less remarkable. Jeremiah Mason, that giant among 
Boston lawyers, had his birth and education here. John 
Wheelock, LL.D., the second president of Dartmouth 
college, and son of Dr. Eleaze Wheelock, the first presi- 
dent, was reared at Lebanon, where his father was settled 
in the ministry. Not far from sixty ministers were sent 
forth from this one township, with its different ecclesiastical 
parishes, and the whole number of its graduates cannot fall 
short of one hundred." Dr. Tarbox continues : — 

We have no wish to exalt Governor Buckingham unduly above 
many other governors in the Northern States. Not a fev? of them 
have left noble records, and this is not a place for rude comparisons. 
Nor can we venture even to enter upon that war record in detail. It 
is too voluminous. From the first outbreak, when he hurried General 
Aiken, afterwards his son-in-law, to Washington, to assure President 
Lincoln that the troops were coming, through all those gloomy four 
years, till General Lee's final surrender, he was boundless in his ac- 
tivity. He seemed a man as truly raised up for the exigency as did 
his great townsman. Governor Trumbull, in the years of the Revolu- 
tion. Is there anything weak or superstitious in the thought, that 
the God who of old prepared Abraham and Moses and David, by a 
peculiar early experience and discipline, for the great part they were 



480 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

to act in the history of our race, was just as distinctly preparing him 
in those early years, on the hills of Eastern Connecticut, for the great 
crisis that came upon this nation in 1860 ? Was it a mere chance that 
developed his childhood in such an atmosphere of patriotism, that 
opened his eyes to look upon the monuments of the illustrious dead, 
and upon the faces of men yet living, who had done so noble a work 
for their country in her great struggle for liberty? We do not so un- 
derstand the events of human life. Such men as Abraham Lincoln, 
John A. Andrew, William A. Buckingham and others, were chosen, 
trained and prepared for that sharp crisis of the rebellion, as truly as 
Moses was fitted and appointed to lead the Children of Israel out 
from the house of bondage. 

It is the custom of Congress when a member dies, for 
each House to set apart a time for the commemoration of 
his life and services. This was done for the Senator from 
Connecticut, and took place February 27, a fortnight after 
his burial at Norwich. Such a service in so large a body, 
among those of different politics and from different parts 
of the country, must take on more or less of dignified cere- 
mony, and the utterances of special friends. But as has 
been said of this : " Some great men have died out of the 
Senate of the United States within the past few years, and 
fitting tributes have been paid them, but it may be doubted 
whether any one has drawn more upon the fountains of 
tenderness than he. In the speeches, both in the Senate 
and in the House, there is a remarkable absence of what 
may be called formal and conventional. They are such 
words as mourners speak when the eye is moist and the 
heart full." 

The first of these tributes paid to the deceased Senator 
was by Senator Ferry, his associate from Connecticut, and 
was in part as follows : — 

Mr. President: — When the telegraph announced that Mr Bucking- 
ham was no more, we paused in the work of legislation to do honor to 
his memory. When, a few days later, the hour arrived for the great 
assemblage which had gathered to his funeral at his distant home, to 
go forth bearing his body to its last resting place, we stopped, as it 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 481 

were, for the long procession to pass by and do its solemn ofiBce and 
disperse, and now we pause once more to utter in the hearing of the 
nation such words of commemoration as seem to us befitting the 
regard in which we held our associate and friend. 

After referring to his Puritan ancestry, and describing 
the New England family into which he was born, he briefly 
sketched that birthplace with its peculiar aspects, associations 
and influences, as if no other could have been its equal : — 

There is no spot in the world where the conditions which mold a 
human life, are more auspicious than those which existed in his 
native town from fifty to seventy years ago. Its natural aspects were 
simple and peaceful. Its one long, spacious street, with wide, grassy 
borders, between which lay the beaten road, here and there over- 
shadowed by ancient trees; the slopes of arable and pasture and 
meadow land, broken by primitive woods at varying intervals; the 
scattered farmhouses with their outbuildings, the rain and sun-im- 
browned meeting-house, schoolhouse and academy, are all familiar 
features of the New England village of that day, and in harmony with 
the life of the people who beheld them ; a plain, earnest, thoughtful 
people, who believed in God and duty ; industrious, because they 
earned their bread by their daily toil; independent, because each man 
owned the acres which he tilled; intelligent, because the school- 
house opened wide its doors to all; brave, because fearing God they 
feared nothing else; pure, because without a shadow on their belief 
in their Scripture revelation they lived habitually in as vivid a con- 
sciousn'ess of the invisible as of the visible world around them. We 
can hardly realize the intensity of that faith in the present age. It 
had perhaps too much of a somber tinge, but it pervaded life with the 
impregnable sense of duty, and robbed death of its terroi's by the 
assurance of a noble life beyond. The air of the place was, moreover, 
full of patriotic associations. It was the home of many prominent 
characters of the Revolutionary period. Chief among these was the 
family of the Trumbull. The plain frame house in which they had 
lived during two generations of distinguished service, and the "Old 
War Office," as it was called, where the elder Trumbull had trans- 
acted his public business during his long administration of State 
affairs, remained landmarks of the past, as they still do. School- 
boys entering the latter looked with awe upon the marks of the spurs, 
still to be seen in the side of the counter, where orderlies and ex- 
press riders sat awaiting the Governor's orders during the War of 
Independence. In that house Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Lafay- 
ette, Rochambeau, and many other old-time worthies had been 



482 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

gxiests. French troops had gone into winter quarters here, and five 
regiments had been reviewed by Washington himself on the spacious 
street. More than 500 men from that little town had been in the 
Uevolutionary armies at one time, and every house was full of their 
reminiscences. It was in the midst of such associations that the boy 
Buckingham grew up from infancy to early manhood. The impress- 
ion which they made may, I think, be traced through all his subse- 
quent life.* 

As Governor, Senator Buckingham had been in office two years 
when the Rebellion broke out. The election of President Lincoln had 
turned upon the question whether slavery was to be restrained and 
kept within its constitutional limits, to be eventually consumed, and 
when that election had gone against the South, Secession came. 

To Governor Buckingham, Secession was rebellion, and an ordnance 
of Secession was a declaration of war. It did not require the echo of 
artillery from Fort Sumter to awaken him to the duties of the hour. 
In the winter of 1860 and 1861, he began with such means as the dis- 
jointed militia laws of Connecticut placed in his hands to prepare 
for the conflict. Upon the first call of President Lincoln for troops 
at the fall of Sumter, he devoted himself, mind and body and estate, 
to bring that conflict to a successful issue. Thenceforth till the 
final overthrow of the Rebellion, his history is a prominent part of the 
history of the nation. The Legislature was to assemble in a few 
weeks, but it was impossible to await its meeting. The laws of the 
State were utterly inadequate to the emergency, and responsibility 



* Among the other patriotic associations and Influences of the place, the Trum- 
bull tomb in the old burying ground miiiht well be added to the " War Ofiice." As 
has been said of it : " Within this mausoleum rest the sacred ashes of more of the 
illustrious dead than in any other in tlie State, or perhaps in the country. Here 
rest the remains of that eminemly yruat and good Jonathan TrumbuU, Sr., the 
bosom friend and most trusted counselor of Washington ; of his good wife. Faith 
Eobinson ; of his oldest son, Joseph, the first commissary general of the army 
under Washington ; his second son, Jonathan, Jr., paymaster general of the same 
army, private secretary and first aid-de-camp to General Washington, and after- 
wards Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, member of tlie 
United States Senate, and Governor of the State, and by his side liis good wife, 
Eunice Backus ; of his third son. David, commissary of this colony in the Revolu- 
tion, and assistant commissary general under his brother in the army of Washing- 
ton, and by his side his good wife, Sarah Backus ; of his second daughter, Mary, 
and by her side her illustrious husband. William Williams, one of the signers of 
the immortal Declaration of Independence, and many others who from these 
descended. What a tomb is here ! What a slirine for patriotic devotion ! " — [Rev. 
Mr. nine's " Early Lebanon.'" 

One has said who was a boy with Governor Buckingham : "As I have stood 
before that tomb with him. I can think of nothing so likely to have inspired him 
with his patriotism as this. Sure I am, tliat nest to his duty to God, no stronger 
motive influenced him than the desire to be to the State and country somewhat 
such as TrumbuU was in the War of the Revolution." 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 483 

must be assured. The treasury was empty and money could not be 
raised for months by the regular methods, but money must be raised. 
The Governor anticipated the enactment of laws, assumed responsi- 
bility, and pledged his private credit in the purchase of supplies and 
munitions of war for the troops, which from all parts of the State 
were filling up the rolls of the volunteers. When the Legislature 
assembled, it passed acts of indemnity and literally placed the whole 
resources of the State at his disposal. And thus it continued sub- 
stantially during the entire war. Never was a trust more faithfully 
executed. As call after call for troops proceeded from Washington, 
the Governor was indefatigable in securing the promptest response. 
As regiment after regiment went forth to the front, he devoted his 
time, his energies, and often bis personal resources, to the complete- 
ness of their equipment and the promotion of their comfort. His 
care of them was as tender as that of a father. 

One or two incidents which I know to be authentic will illustrate 
this tenderness of the Governor for his troops. A citizen of Con- 
necticut, whose duties kept him almost constantly at the front, hap- 
pened to meet Governor Buckingham at Washington, and in the 
course of a conversation the latter said to him : " You will see a great 
many battles and much suffering. Don't let any Connecticut man 
suffer for want of anything that can be done for him. If it costs 
money, draw on me for it." The same person, on the last day of the 
fight at Gettysburg, when victory had declared on the Federal side, 
while yet the fields were strewn with the dead and wounded, seized 
an opportunity to telegraph the Governor the great result, and quick 
as the wires could bear it came back the response: " Take good care 
of the Connecticut men." 

In this connection, Senator Ferry brings out the other 
side of the Goyernor's character, which, tender-hearted as 
he was, showed convictions and principles in regard to the 
support of government and the preservation of the Union 
at any cost, and made him urge on the contest to victory, as 
follows : — 

" The conflict inaugurated at Sumter must go on until the govern- 
ment shall conquer or be conquered. Let no one be deceived by the 
artful device of securing peace by a cessation of hostilities. A peace 
thus attained would cost a nation's birthright. Civil war is cruelty. 
Its fruits are desolation, sorrow and death. Fear, hesitation, and a 
timid use of the forces of war, will eventually increase these terrible 
sufferings. They will be diminished by courage, vigor, and severity. 
Whatever of trial, suffering or privation may be in store for us, or 



484 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

however long may be this controversy, fii-m in the faith that our 
nation will be preserved in its integrity, let us in adversity as well as 
in prosperity, in darkness as well as in light, give the administration 
our counsel, our confidence, our support." 

The exigencies of the war frequently brought Governor Bucking- 
ham to Washington during its whole continuance. Here he speedily 
won the respect of all by his capacity, firmness, and devotion to the 
common cause. He was especially endeared to President Lincoln, 
who reposed in him the same confidence which Washington had 
bestowed upon his great predecessor, Jonathan Trumbull. As a 
gentleman entering the executive office, introduced himself from 
Connecticut, the President I'ose from his chair, and placing his hand 
impressively upon the visitor's shoulder, exclaimed: "From Con- 
necticut? Do you know what a good governor you have got?" 

Kindly and gentle as we have seen him in these recent years, it is 
impossible not to feel that in his veins flowed the blood of the grim 
Ironsides who fought at Naseby and at Marston Moor, and that in his 
breast dwelt the spirit which animated the Hebrew king who, con- 
templating the Inextinguishable hostility of the enemies of his people 
and of the glorious hopes bound up in their national existence, ex- 
claimed: "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my 
hands to war and my fingers to fight." 

Senator Fielinghuysen of New Jersey said : — 

Mr. President: — The warm friendship Ihavefor years entertained 

for Governor Buckingham and my high estimate of his character 
forbid that I suffer this occasion to pass away without, as briefly as 
I may, paying to his memory a parting tribute. When the sad tidings 
of the death of our friend passed over the wires, thousands and thou- 
sands of the best people of the country were saddened. Those who, 
while we are making laws to impose on society external restraints, 
are noiselessly and unobtrusively at work in imposing on society the 
more potent and more salutary internal restraints of a pure 
religion, feel that in his death they have lost an efficient coworker, 
a wise counselor, and a bright exemplar. His was a bright example, 
and as he had no moral obliquities to hide, he had no temp- 
tation to resort to pretension, and to become a prude in virtue. The 
faith he professed received from him no prejudice and no damage. 
His life was the expression of "an honest, earnest, loving heart, 
taking counsel of its God, and of itself." 

In his death the nation and society have sustained a loss not 
readily repaired. That combination of integrity and efficiency, of 
prudence and courage, of kindness and firmness, of patriotism and 
Chri.stian virtue, which formed his character, is not often found. As 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 485 

a man of extensive business connections, his opinions on affairs were 
sought after and respected, and his punctuality in the performance of 
any obligation was an example. As the War Governor of Connecticut, 
he contributed much to the preservation, and shed a luster on the his- 
tory, of his native State. As our companion here, his wisdom and 
judgment commanded our respect, his virtue won our esteem, and 
his generous confidence secured our affection. 

Senator Stevenson of Kentucky said : — 

My acquaintance with Governor Buckingham commenced upon my 
enti-ance into the Senate in 1871. A joint service with him upon the 
Committee on Indian Affairs brought us closely together, and I soon 
learned to honor and respect him. I shall not speak of his public ser- 
vice in the Senate ; it was known to us all ; it was appreciated by all. 

Governor Buckingham was a man of decided character. Without 
brill imcy, he possessed a strong, clear judgment, was a man of 
decided opinions and strong convictions from which he never swerved. 
He was eminently industrious and attentive to his official duties, but 
always gentle and courteous in the discharge of them. But his 
example, Mr. President, to the Senate and to the world, possessed a 
higher value. Earthly distinction is of " the earth, earthy; " it attracts 
and dazzles for a brief period and then passes away and perisheth; 
but a conscience void of offense before God and man is an inheritance 
for eternity. And such, I believe, was the possession of the late 
William A. Buckingham. His religious convictions were of the 
highest and deepest t J pe. No irreverence, no frivolity, no loud pro- 
fessions of his faith ever escaped his lips. He believed that pure 
religion and undefiled before God and the Father, was to visit the 
fatherless and widows in their afflictions, and to keep himself un- 
spotted from the world. This he illustrated in his daily life; this he 
rejoiced in in his calm and quiet life. He lived in hope; he died in 
triumph. 

Senator Wright of Iowa also said : — 

I met Governor Buckingham for the first time when taking my seat 
in this chamber, nearly four years since. I was then, as always after- 
wards, impressed, as I know all were, with his amiable disposition, 
sterling worth, his devotion to right and duty, his unobtrusive man- 
ner, his ever earnest advocacy of the cause of the weak and oppressed, 
his Christian faith, and what was far more, his Christian life. I but 
repeat what has been said by others when I say tliat his work was 
not .so much in mere appearance or show, as in its quiet and practical 
value to the Senate and the country. Participating in our debates 



486 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

but seldom, he, nevertheless, in those matters i-equiring patient in- 
dustry, tireless research, watchfulness, the care of the conscientious 
business man, yea, of pure purpose and clear brain and judgment, 
was ever at home, had but few equals, was the peer of any. And 
hence, as my acquaintance ripened into warm friendship, and I came 
to know more and more of his purity of purpose and the thorough- 
ness of his investigations, if in doubt as to my course, I simply 
asked what has he said or advised, what was his vote, and followed 
his lead. I knew his path could not and would not probably lead me 
from the right, and could not be otherwise than that of safety. His 
was always " a straight road," and a traveler in this never gets lost. 

These tributes of highest respect and personal esteem, 
come, it should be noticed, not only from men of his own 
political party, but from those with very different politics, 
and when such relations were terribly strained. Here 
is Senator Bayard of Delaware, afterwards President 
Cleveland's Secretary of State, and now our minister to the 
Court of St. James, who frankly avowing his differences, 
yet pays the Connecticut Senator as high and hearty trib- 
utes of respect as any other. Senator Bayard says : — 

I entered this body on the same day as our late friend and brother, 
having never previously had personal acquaintance with him, and 
although the committees upon which we were allotted service by the 
Senate were different, yet relations of a kindly natuie soon grew up 
between us, arising from the contact of general business in the 
chamber. I was greatly won by the considerate courtesy which so 
eminently marked his bearing, and our acquaintance grew closely 
with the lapse of time, until a sentiment of what I am glad to believe 
was one of mutual regard, established itself between us. Our affili- 
ations in party politics were totally diverse, and upon such questions 
the sense of duty entertained by each led our voices and our votes 
usually in opposite directions. Our habits of life, the schools of 
thought and action in which we had been reared, had always been of 
a different character, leading us into the adoption of different theories 
of social and political government. But the calmness, the serenity, 
the cheerful, steady, and open advocacy of his conscientious views, 
never suggested condemnation or disrespect of those who opposed 
him. 1 well remember on one occasion, when I had combated in 
debate some opinion he evidently cherished, that fearing he might 
have considered himself iiuiuded in my adverse criticisms, I said to 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 487 

him privately. "I trust you will let me agree with you, and yet 
denounce your opinions." And with a smile of graciousness which 
any one who knew him must remember, he placed his arm around my 
shoulder and said : " My dear friend, we both mean what is right, 
and must not condemn each other because we differ in our ways of 
attaining it." 

Referring to that perplexing and disagreeable Custom- 
house Investigation in New York, he says : — 

In the winter of 1871 and 1872, Mr. Buckingham was chairman of a 
committee of investigation of which I was a member, which sat in 
New York for nearly two months. Its sessions were long and 
laborious, by night and by day, involving much that was calculated 
to arouse contest between the members. And I would here bear 
witness to the unfailing industry, the unflagging attention there 
bestowed upon the public duty, by this then aged and venerable man, 
whose gentle courtesy and good temper never failed upon any occa- 
sion. The long life of our friend had been, as we have just been told, 
one of steady industry and solid, unvarying integrity, and the reward 
of wealth, and the higher reward of public and private regard and 
respect were his. The people of his native State have attested in 
many ways and repeatedly their high opinion of his intelligence and 
worth, and placed him for many successive terms in the chair of their 
chief magistracy, and sent him into this council chamber as one of 
their representatives. Full of years and honors, they now mourn 
for him. 

Let his virtues be written upon marble, and remembered and 
imitated by those of us who survive him. Let such faults and imper- 
fections as are ever attendant upon humanity pass from our minds, 
and find that mercy and forgiveness for what he earnestly and 
humbly sought, and of what we all stand so much in need. Senators, 
our hearts meet now over this new grave of a departed brother. Shall 
not this communion of sorrow keep us less far apart in the perform- 
ance of our daily duties, upon which we are in a few hours again 
to embark? 

Senator Eaton, of Connecticut, just appointed by the Gov- 
ernor to succeed Senator Buckingham, and the representa- 
tive of the opposite political party in the State, pays him 
this magnanimous tribute of respect and esteem : — 

Governor Buckingham came into public life and shortly after enter- 
ing upon it there arose grave and great questions upon which men 
antagonized. Though many years younger than he, 1 had been some- 



488 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

what in public life. My political convictions differed from the con- 
victions of our deceased friend. I am glad to say here, that however 
much they differed, though we were not intimate, yet our personal 
relations were always friendly. And, sir, I will say here, and I ask 
for no higher eulogium upon myself either from political foe or per- 
sonal friend, that whatever William A. Buckingham did in the line of 
his duty, he did it in all heart and in all honesty. If there were dif- 
ferences of opinion between him and some of his fellow-citizens 
those differences to-day are cast into the great lumber-room of tlie 
past and are forgotten. He was a gentleman, a kindly gentleman, and 
blessed with large wealth, he showered it upon the needy. True to 
his friends, true to his convictions, true to those great principles 
which should govern us all, he went down to the grave an honest 
man. Noble heart, farewell! Pure, gentle spirit, fare thee well! 
" The earth which bears thee dead bears not alive a truer gentleman." 

But the tributes of some of the older Senators, and such 
as had had more experience in Congressional statesman- 
ship, and especially had shared with him the anxieties of 
the war, come hack to us full of meaning, and rich in affec- 
tion. Senator Pratt of Indiana says : — 

I met him first in this chamber nearly six years ago, and while 
many of his associates may lay claim to a greater intimacy than I 
enjoyed, no one, I feel sure, more sincerely mourns his loss. With 
perfect truth I can say, that in all the acquaintances I have formed 
with public men since coming to this Capitol, no one has impressed 
me more strongly as being thoroughly conscientious and honest in 
his public and private life than Mr. Buckingham. 

He was a statesman in the best sense of the term. What makes a 
statesman? Not knowledge alone, however wide, deep, varied and 
all-comprehensive; not mere quickness of apprehension to detect the 
latent fallacy in argument or proposition; not large experience with 
men and subjects in the legislative forum, nor familiarity with par- 
liamentary rules; it does not consist alone in great powers of debate. 
All these may co-exist, and yet something be wanting to complete our 
beau ideal of the statesman. What is the lack? What is still want- 
ing? I reply, perfect integrity, broad philanthropy, and an ardent 
patriotism, which, discarding selfish aims and local benefits, seek to 
elevate the whole people, to make them wiser and better, and to 
promote their material welfare. 

To this highest type of statesmanship he belonged, whose memory 
we honor to-day. He was not a great orator, upon whose utterances 
men hung with bated breath. He did not mingle frequently in 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 489 

debate. He did not aspire to the honor of leadership, nor was his 
education as comprehensive as that of many. He made no pretense 
to superior culture. But he possessed the practical knowledge of the 
affairs of the country, its varied industries and wants, its internal 
commerce, its growing manufactories, its vast agricultural and 
mineral resources, and especially that knowledge of our relations 
with the various Indian tribes, to which subject he gave so much of 
his attention as the chairman of the committee on Indian Affairs, as 
to eminently qualify him to be a judicious adviser in this body and 
to frame appropriate laws upon these subjects. Without making any 
pretense to the graces of oratory, he possessed the faculty of setting 
forth liis views in away all could understand. With this was coupled 
that sincerity of manner that made all men respect if they could not 
adopt his views. 

And while dwelling upon his course in this chamber, let me allude 
to another matter. Debates sometimes engender heat and hasty 
speech. But who can forget his unvarying courtesy? Who ever saw 
him forget for a single moment the propriety of debate? Who ever 
heard fall from his lips a word calculated to offend or wound? Who 
ever saw his brow cloud with anger, or his face flush with sudden 
passion? Who ever suspected him of equivocation or double dealing? 
No, sir; he was the soul of truth, the embodiment of honor. In him 
centered the virtues which make up the Christian gentleman. * 

In a similar strain, Senator Thurman of Ohio pays his 
tribute to his deceased associate : — 

Mr. President: — I can do no more than express my high apprecia- 
tion of the character of the deceased as it was manifested during the 



* The Senator is often referred to as a '" gentleman,"' a "Christian gentleman." 
and the following incident will Illustrate what kind of a gentleman he was, in 
spirit as weU as in manner : " It is told of the late Governor Buckingham, that 
during an important ofBcial consultation in regard to the war. an old and feeble 
woman dressed in simple mourning, was ushered into the room, and told her story 
to the sympathetic Governor. She was a widow, and her only son, who had gone 
as a private in the Fourteenth Connecticut regiment, had been killed in a recent 
action, leaving her alone with her grandson. She drew out a roll of bills from a 
a much-worn pocketbook and asked the Governor to take from it the value of her 
son's rifle and give her an order for it on his captain. 'John didn't have much to 
leave his boy besides a good name and a patriotic example,' said the old lady; 
' but I want to get that rifle so that the boy can be reminded of his father while he 
is growing up." The Governor was deeply affected. He refused the money and 
told her he should have her son's rifle if he had to go in person to the regiment to 
get it. After taking the necessary directions from her, he gave her his arm as she 
rose up to go, assisted her off the steps, and then with a courtly bow bade her good- 
bye, and returned to his office. 'Gentlemen.' said he, 'what are our labors and 
sacrifices compared to hers? The daily evidence I receive of the heroism of our 
Connecticut women, inspires me with confidence as nothing else could do.' " 



490 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

years he sat among us. My acquaintance with him began when he 
entered the Senate, and the friendly relations that soon followed were 
never marred by any difference of opinion, however great. I always 
found him polite, amiable, and ready to oblige; a noble specimen of 
a true gentleman. I always found him an industrious and careful 
legislator, distinguished by an excellent judgment and naturally in- 
clined, I believe, to moderation. Earnest in the discharge of his 
duties, he was never obtrusive, never presumptuous, and never said a 
word calculated to inflict a wound. And hence, when he last walked 
from this chamber, he left no one within its walls who did not feel 
for him respect, kindness and esteem. A Senator of whom after 
years of service this can be truly said needs little more of eulogy. 
There is so much to create passion, prejudice, or ill-will in the con- 
tests imposed upon us by a discharge of our duties, that he who 
finishes his senatorial career with the universal good will and respect 
of his brethren, is most surely a character that merits commemoration 
and honor. 

Senator Howe's delicate perception of some elements of 
Senator Buckingham's character, and his felicitous and 
heart-felt representations of them, make his tribute one of 
the gems of this kind of literature : — 

Mr. President: — I put on no sable, none of the trappings of woe, 
to stand by the bier of Buckingham. I recall no single trait in his 
character, no incident in his career, to bow me with a sense of hu- 
miliation. On the contrai-y, the memory of all the years I knew him 
fills me with exultation. And then, sir, I remember with grateful 
pride that he was an American Senator. 

I need not remind you how in these latter years calumny has 
emptied all its vials upon the heads of public men and upon the 
endeavors of public life. It has really seemed at times as if the 
fountains of falsehood's great deeps were broken up, and that so- 
ciety, which can no more be overwhelmed by floods, was to be 
drowned by detraction. A friend told me that when traveling along 
a railway in New England two years ago, she heard a fellow-traveler 
declare, with emphasis, his settled belief that there was not an honest 
man in either House of Congress. But Buckingham was then there. 

One incident in his life I will venture to recall, which not inaptly 
illustrates his enduring excellence. By command of the Senate, I 
was with others assigned but three years ago to aid the deceased on 
the investigation of alleged abuses in the customs service in New 
York. It was an irksome task, yet we prosecuted it for weeks. 
Daily we were splashed with the foul humors engendered in the 
glandered politics of a great city. Malice unwound a hideous web 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 491 

before us, shot with a thread of fact to a shuttleful of falsehood. 
During the whole trial I did not once hear a censorius remark from 
him, or even a petulant exclamation. It was evident he was human, 
and that he felt. Occasionally, when the manifestations were 
especially spiteful, his countenance would wear that mingled ex- 
pression of pain and resignation which art has so long and so vainly 
toiled to reproduce in some Ecce Homo; that look, half willing and 
half shrinking, which one fancies the shuddering Saviour wore as there 
broke from his lips the supplication : "If it be possible, let this cup 
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." But 
the poultice of a night relieved the suffering and each succeeding day 
restored him to his work, showing no more trace of scars from the 
inflictions of the yesterdays, than the sun bore which lighted him 
to his work. 

Mr. President, I have long felt to regret that I never heard Jenny 
Lind sing, that I never saw Rachel act. They must have been marvel- 
ous specimens of art. Governor Buckingham was a grand piece of 
nature. I shall always regret that I could not have known him in 
domestic life. I am persuaded that was his masterpiece. I never 
saw him in the presence of a child. But I partly know what he was 
as a father. Once he spoke to me of a daughter, and no June morn- 
ing ever suffused the eastern sky with a more genial radiance than 
that which broke over the face of the father, as he told me how good 
that daughter was. 

Sir, I should wrong the memory of Governor Buckingham and grieve 
his truthful spirit — only his spirit is beyond the reach of grief — if I 
should neglect to bear testimony to one thing. There is in this 
unbelieving generation a loud, if not a large element, desperate, if not 
devilish, hoping nothing here and fearing nothing hereafter, which 
screams with derision of the Christian statesman. Standing by the 
grave of Governor Buckingham, I must not forget to tell the world 
that he was, what I have never dared pretend to be, a Christian 
statesman.* 



* While we are giving the estimates of these Congressmen of one of their number, 
it may be of interest to know his estimate of his associates, certainly if he had 
anything like the good judgment and fairness attributed to him. It is well known 
to his friends, that he regarded public men in that position, as greatly misunder- 
stood, misrepresented, and suspected of what does not belong to them as a class, 
however criminal individuals may be. He spoke more particularly of the Senate, 
as the body with which he was best acquainted, and testified to their high honor 
and scrupulousness in regard to legislation affecting their personal interests, and 
sensitiveness to the very suspicion of it. As he once said to the writer when visit- 
ing him in Washington and inquiring after his health: " Oh ! I am weU enough, but 
you know that when a man comes to Congress, and makes any money while he is 
here, he has had his hands in the public treasury. And if he has lost any, he has 
fallen into bad habits. This last is the case with mel" 



492 ♦ WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Senator Morton of Indiana was an old friend of Senator 
Buckingham. They had both been governors all through 
the war, in frequent correspondence in respect to the 
course to be pursued, and in perfect sympathy as to the 
necessity of carrying on the war to the bitter end, in spite 
of all peace measures and compromises. In one respect 
they greatly differed in their lot. Governor Buckingham 
always had his State at his back, while Governor Morton 
had to struggle with a Democratic Legislature, and the 
popular majority was against him in supporting the national 
administration by the abolition of slavery. Yet he raised 
a great number of troops, and carried the State successfully 
through the war in the support of the government. A 
grand old man he was, and though an invalid all through 
the war, and his senatorial life, no man did harder or 
better work for his country. His tribute to his friend was 
as follows : — 

I first met Governor Buckingham when he took his seat in this body 
on the 4th of March, 1869. I felt from the first that we were friends, 
and we were. He always expressed a deep interest in my health; 
his inquiries were always tender and almost from day to day. Though 
I had never met Governor Buckingham until that time, yet we had 
been in correspondence before under circumstances of a most solemn 
character. It was, I think, in the summer of 1862, a few weeks, per- 
haps a month, before the issue of the proclamation of emancipation 
by Mr. Lincoln, that I received a long letter from Governor Bucking- 
ham, in which he discussed the general situation of the country. It 
was at a gloomy period, when victory was not resting upon our arms. 
Toward the close of the letter he suggested the question whether the 
government was doing its duty in regard to the institution of slavery, 
and whether we could hope for ultimate victory while that institution 
was protected and preserved, but he expressed himself as uncertain as 
to whether the time had arrived when any step couUl be taken 
toward its destruction. He said he had had an interview or a letter, 
I forget which, but recently from Governor Andrew of Massachusetts, 
which had led him to write me on the subject. In replying, I agreed 
with him upon the main suggestion of his letter, expressing the 
same doubt, however, as to whether the time was ripe, whether 
public opinion was in that condition to authorize tlie President 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 493 

of the TTnited States to take the decisive step which he after- 
wards took. 

During my intercourse with Governor Buckingham as a member of 
this body, he often talked to me about his experiences as Governor 
during the war. We often compared notes upon that subject. He 
evidently regarded his services as Governor of Connecticut during the 
war as the great event of his life, and on several occasions expressed 
his doubts as to whether it was wise or expedient for him to accept a 
seat in this body, and whether he ought not to have retired from 
public life when the war was over. 

Just before the close of the last session, and before his departure, 
he came across to my seat where I was sitting, and said: " Well, we 
are about to separate. I hope we will meet next winter in better 
health." He said : " I am an old man, and feel that my race is nearly 
run." He said: "There are only three of us left who served as 
governor of our respective States throughout the entire war," 
referring to himself, Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania, and to my- 
self. He said that Yates and Andrew were gone, and that we, 
notwithstanding our utmost hopes, must soon follow; and taking me 
by the hand, expressed the hope that we should meet the coming 
winter in better health. We parted to meet no more. 

In the House of Representatives, also, similar tributes 
were paid to the Senator from Connecticut, by Messrs. 
Starkweather, Kellogg, Wilson of Iowa, Potter of New York, 
and General Hawley, who afterwards succeeded him in the 
Senate. Those especially of the Connecticut members are 
not only discriminating and heart-felt, but they are more at 
length in historic detail and illustrative facts, and justify 
what has been said by others. So that there is no great 
difficulty in telling what kind of a man " the War Governor 
of Connecticut " was, or what he did for the country, for 
the Union, and for freedom. It is evident what Connecti- 
cut thinks of him, when she puts the statue of Trumbull, 
her " War Governor of the Revolution," as her representa- 
tive in the Capitol at Washington, and lets the statue of 
Buckingham, her " War Governor of the Rebellion," greet 
you when you enter her State Capitol at Hartford. She 
means that they shall go down together in history, as her 
legacy to the country, to Republican government, and 
to humanity. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Personal Traits op Character. 

Governor Buckingham's Connection with Christian and Benevolent 
Associations — The First Triennial Congregational Council — His 
Ability as its Moderator — His Style of Writing and Address- 
Photograph Copy of His Letter to the President in Transmit- 
ting their Paper on the " State of the Country." 

Little more remains to complete the Memoir of Governor 
Bucii;ingham, than to refer to his connection With the lead- 
ing religious, educational, and philanthropic organizations 
of the times. With all such he was in sympathy, and with 
some actively concerned in their management, and among 
their most generous supporters. 

He was a corporate member of the American Board of 
Commissioners of Foreign Missions, the oldest, we believe, 
of the American foreign missionary societies, and certainly 
one of the most efficient and successful in its work. Here 
he was a counselor, as well as generous contributor to their 
work, and one of those who, when the times were bad and 
the contributions of the churches falling short, could be 
called upon to make up such deficiencies. He was a special 
friend to missionaries, and with his high respect for their 
motives and self-denying labors, he could not do too much 
to make them enjoy their occasional visits to this country, 
and contribute to their comfort when they should have 
returned. He was also a friend and steadfast supporter of 
the American Home Missionary Society, whose object is to 
aid the feeble churches of the East, and plant new ones in 
the growing settlements of the West, and which has been 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 495 

SO successful in the work that, of all the Congregational 
churches there, probably the majority of them have been 
planted and nursed into self-support through its agency. 
The Western College and Education Society was another of 
those organizations of which he was president, adviser and 
supporter for years. This was a society to found and sup- 
port Western colleges, and also to aid young men in their 
education for the ministry. 

When the war was over, and the South was left with all 
her emancipated slaves, and with the rights of citizenship 
conferred upon them, it was natural that the North should 
pity and help her, as well as have some regard for the 
safety of the nation, with such an element given the right 
to vote. Then with a magnanimity that was noble, and a 
generosity that was superb, there came those Peabody, and 
Slater, and Hand endowment funds, for the education of the 
South, and that noble American Missionary Association, 
which undertook to look after both the educational and 
religious welfare, not only of the freedmen, but of the 
"mountain whites" of that section of the country, and 
which is meeting with such marked success. Of course 
Governor Buckingham appreciated it, and was for a number 
of years its honored president, giving it his wisest counsel 
and generous aid. 

He was also well known as a good friend to the temperance 
cause. His father was the first in his native town to give 
up the use of ardent spirits in his family and upon liis farm, 
and he himself entered upon his business life with such 
principles and habits. He had too much reflection not to 
see what mischief the drinking habit was causing, and 
how easily it could be prevented by total abslintnico, and 
regard enough for others to make the little acrilice recjuired 
to aid so good a cause. And the ease with whicli lui 
did it. in the various positions he occupied, and in the 
cii'clcs where he moved, as his Washinetou friends w-ould 



496 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

tell you,* caused him no embarrassment and only won 
from others the more respect. Governor Buckingham was 
for several years the president of the Connecticut Temper- 
ance Union, which is still engaged by lecturers, colporteurs 
and publications in promoting this cause. 

But the most important and probably the most interest- 
ing position of this kind offered to Governor Buckingham, 
was to be called to preside over the " First Triennial Con- 
gregational Council," held in Boston, June, 1865. This 
was a part of the reconstructional work called for at the 
end of the war, which had reference to the Congregational 
churches of the country. 

From the first settlement of New England, Congrega- 
tionalism and Presbyterianism were so much alike in 
Christian faith and church government, that they carried 
on their home missionary and foreign missionary work 
through the same organizations. Their members and 
ministers were always recognized in one body as well as 
the other. And when Congregationalists removed to the 
new States, it was considered advisable that they should 
connect themselves with Presbyterian churches already 
established, and not divide their strength by rival enter- 
prises. But when the New England settlers became numer- 
ous, it was necessary that their love for their own form of 
church government should be gratified, and for the interest 



*When Secretary Bayard, of President Cleveland's cabinet, came North a few 
summers ago to deliver the annual address to the Law School of Yale University, 
and was introduced, at the president's levee, to the Governor's niece, as he heard 
the name, he asked if she was any relative of Senator Buckingham, and being told 
of the relationship, he smilingly said : " You know your uncle was a good temper- 
ance man, and that while he gave us good dinners, he never would give us any 
liquors. A party of us were dining with him one evening, when we happened to 
be almost all Democrats. We rallied him, and told him that he was evidently try- 
ing to kill off the Democratic party, because he would give no liquor. It so hap- 
pened that in the course of the evening there came a sleet storm, such as is common 
at Washington during the winter, and when we came out we all found ourselves 
slipping down and helping each other up, like a company of intoxicated people. 
The next morning the story was told at the Senate chamber before Senator Buck 
ingham arrived, and when he came he was rallied upon having turned out such a 
drunken crew at that hour of the night from his temperance mansion." 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 497 

of the country that they should be encouraged and aided 
in that work. The South, too, and Southwest, where there 
were no such churches, but mostly Baptist, Methodist and 
Presbyterian, was to be thrown open to Northern settlers, 
and it was desirable that the best of our churches should 
be introduced, as well as our industry, and skill, and system 
of education. But more than nil, our civil government was 
so essentially modeled alter this form of church govern- 
ment — each State self- governed, and by the majority, 
and in the general government all the States having the 
benefit of the wisdom and co-operation of the rest — that it 
seemed as if this best school for training in citizenship 
ought not to be shut out from any part of the land. It 
allowed each church to adopt its own creed, and if it was 
deemed by the rest sufficiently scriptural and evangelical, 
it was recognized by the rest as a Christian church, and 
could administer its own discipline and manage its own 
affairs. Only in matters of " common concernment," such 
as the organization of churches, and the ordination of 
their ministers, and the settlement of difficulties which 
they cannot settle themselves, are they expected to seek 
advice of other churches, and in this consists the difference 
between them and simply independent churches, like those 
of Great Britain. Even the results of these advisory coun- 
cils are not authoritative, but advisory, as one of the early 
New England fathers, Richard Mather, has said : " The 
result of any council hath only so much force as there is 
force in the reason for the same." While another of those 
fathers, Cotton Mather, happily testifies that " in the early 
periods of our ecclesiastical history, such bodies were so 
judiciously constituted and their decisions so respectfully 
received, that the councils in the churches of New England 
rarely met with contradiction from the churches whose 
cases were laid before them." 

And while they believed that no particular form of church 



498 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

government was laid down and required in the New Testa- 
ment, they held that any company of believers under the 
guidance of the apostles were allowed to choose their own 
bishops and ciders for the apostles to consecrate and set 
apart to such service, so they became thoroughly demo- 
cratic in their church government. And while they pro- 
posed to make of their civil government a Christian com- 
monwealth, they did not hesitate to organize a Union 
of Independent States, and create a self-governing Repub- 
lic. So this independence of churches, and their union for 
conference and mutual counsel, became the characteristic 
of Congregationalism, in distinction from Episcopacy, or 
Presbyterianism, or Methodism. 

To secure the full results of union, as well as independ- 
ency, it was necessary for the churches to consult with 
one another in regard to their common interests, as they 
did in the organization of churches and the ordination and 
dismission of pastors, and sometimes larger councils, or 
"synods," as they were called, were convened when the 
interests of all required it. Thus a general synod or 
council was convened in 1687, made up of all the churches 
of New England. There were only nineteen of them then, 
thirteen in Massachusetts Bay, four at Plymouth, and two 
in Connecticut. Another synod was held in 1646, when 
the churches of New England had increased to fifty-three. 
There was another in 1662, and still another in 1680, both 
of which were confined to Massachusetts. Then came the 
synod at Saybrook, Conn., in 1708, which was confined to 
Connecticut. For 200 years there had been no general 
Congregational council, until in 1862 one was convened at 
Albany, N. Y., to consider the changed condition and duties 
of these churches, and resulted greatly in their increased 
extension and usefulness. Up to that time Congregation- 
alism had been confined almost entirely to New England, 
but now commenced its national work. As showing the 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 499 

need of it, from the Albany Council in 1852, which repre- 
sented only 2,000 churches, they had become 3,000 in 
1865, when the Boston Council was held, and may now 
be reckoned at 5,000. It was deemed as important 
to the welfare of the churches as reconstruction in civil 
matters was to the State. It was a large council, con- 
sisting of 500 members, and representing 3,000 churches 
of the country, with delegates from some forty foreign 
bodies. It is needless to eay that the ablest members 
of the denomination were there, laymen as well as min- 
isters. Dr. Leonard Bacon was there, the Nestor of 
Congregationalism, and so was Dr. Dexter, the historian of 
the Pilgrims. The colleges were well represented and 
President Sturtevant of Illinois College preached the open- 
ing sermon, while President Stearns of Amherst College 
was chairman of the committee to make the final revision 
of the " Declaration of Faith." So were the theological 
seminaries represented, and their ablest men predominated 
on the committee which drew up and agreed upon the first 
draft of the " Declaration of Faith." Some of these com- 
mittees were quite large, like that of twenty members on 
the " State of the Country," of which Dr. Post of St. Louis 
was the chairman, and one-half the rest were from among 
the eminent civilians of the land. Of the committee on 
"Ministerial Support," four out of five were laymen, whose 
ability was as much at the service of the churches as it was 
in demand for the business enterprises of the country. 
Some of the papers submitted to the council, like the one 
on " The Government and Fellowship of the Congregational 
Churches in the United States," were the work of a com- 
mittee of only two, Drs. Bacon and Quint, who had been 
designated beforehand for this work, and which is in itself 
a treatise on Congregational church polity, as well as a 
history of its administration and results in this country for 
two centuries and a half. All this work of the council 



600 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

required not only rare scholarship and good theology, and 
ability to organize and administer well, but demanded, espe- 
cially at such a time, grander conceptions of the future 
that was opening to us in the re-establishment of our 
Republic, and in the new order of things to come at the 
South, and in the increased immigration to flow in upon us 
from every land, and in the new development of our re- 
sources to take place, and the wealth and culture and 
unbounded enterprise to follow. More or less of this any 
ordinary forecast might have discerned, while the prophets 
of our race, especially those who had been always walking 
in the light of Christian revelations, were prepared, like the 
saints of old (Heb. xi : 13), to salute these caravans of the 
desert in the distance, and ready to direct the wise men 
from the East to the infant Redeemer. 

There was one occurrence in the council which seriously 
threatened its harmony, and but for the frank acknowledg- 
ments on one side, and the magnanimous acceptance of 
them on the other, would have sadly marred the faultless 
Christian spirit of the whole. One of the foreign delegates, 
editor of a British quarterly, which had expressed no sym- 
pathy with us in our fearful struggle, and been particularly 
persistent in its dark foreboding of our future, called out 
from Dr. Quint, who had been a chaplain in our Union 
army, the following natural and irrepressible sense of 
wrong that had been done us : — 

When I went to settle in the place where I now live, I found that 
my people's pi-operty, being upon the sea, had been given to the flames 
by British pirates, vessels of war built in England, manned and 
supplied there. And when I was in the service of my country and 
saw my comrades dead, when I saw fi'iends from Wisconsin, Indiana 
and New York dead side by side, I knew that they fell by British 
bullets, from British muskets loaded with British powder, fired by 
men wearing British shoes and British clothing, and backed up by 
British sympathy. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 501 

Here he stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished, as if 
he could not bear to draw the only fit conclusion. And 
after making some quotations from that Review which was 
regarded as the organ of the Congregationalists of England, 
he said that he " could not hold himself responsible for 
fraternal fellowship " with that body, until such sympathy 
with wrong, and justification of such measures, were 
regretted and repudiated. 

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher also had complaint to make 
of his reception in Great Britain, and the lack of sympathy 
he found there among Christian people and even among 
the Congregational churches. And but for the explanation, 
and regret, and apology of the foreign delegate, there might 
have been a permanent alienation cherished between us and 
the Congregational Union of Great Britain, whose relations 
have always been, and still are, so peculiarly pleasant. As 
it was, however, these two American brethren called up 
their English brother, and pledged him their abiding confi- 
dence, and only challenged him and the churches he repre- 
sented to outdo us if they would in the evangelization of 
the world. 

The most significant and impressive occurrence in the 
proceedings of the council, however, was its adjournment 
to Plymouth, the landing place of the Pilgrims, where, on 
that " Burial Hill " overlooking the rock upon which they 
landed, and the sea which separated them so far from their 
native land, and surrounded by the graves of one-half the 
Mayflower's company who died the first winter — there, on 
that holy ground, at midday, and before high heaven, with 
prayer, and psalm, and under a solemn sense of duty to 
God and to mankind, they read and adopted that "Declara- 
tion of Faith," and pledged themselves to carry out their 
fathers' plans, in founding here a Christian commonwealth 
for the welfare of the world. 

The council returned to Boston, where, after closing up 



602 WILLIAM A. buckin(;ham. 

its business, and the adoption of a resolution of thanks 
to the moderator, and his reply, it was dissolved. Rev. Dr. 
Wolcott of Ohio offered the followinjr resolution, which 
was unanimously adopted : — 

Resolved, That this council tenders to His Excellency, Governor 
Buckinfjham, our honored moderator, for the dignity, urbanity and 
courtesy with whicli he has presided over its deliberations, to which 
in part we ascribe the pleasant cordiality of feeling, unmarred by 
harshness, which has prevailed throughout its earnest discussions; 
and as a National Council, we express the satisfaction with which we 
are reminded by this assembly of the early days of our Puritan 
history, when the chief magistrates of the colonies were the servants 
of the churches, and the honors of the State were humbly laid at the 
foot of the cross. 

The moderator replied as follows: — 

Mr, Moderatok: — I am not prepared, not able, properly to reply to 
that resolution. I remember, by history, that one hundred and fifty- 
seven years ago, my paternal ancestor presided as assistant moderator 
of that synod which adopted the Saybrook platform. For me to 
occupy such a position as 1 do to-day, through your partiality, is a 
high privilege. I believe I occupy it, in part, in consequence of the 
partiality which has been manifested by the citizens of Connecticut 
toward me, in placing me in a position which has linked my name, for 
the few years past, with the government of that little State, so inti- 
mately connected with the cause of liberty and civil government. 
This also has been an unspeakable privilege, occurring as it has 
during the period when all the interests of civil government have 
been, as it were, concenti-ated upon the events of the passing hour or 
year. No events have ever tianspired in the history of this world, of 
.such importance to civilization, to civil government, to morality, to 
religion, as the events which have transpired before us. It is a 
privilege to live at such a time; and it is a privilege to be the chief 
magistrate of a state whose patriotism goes down to the very depths 
of love, and offers her sons and her fathers as sacrifices on the altar 
of liberty. 

But there are still higher interests than those of merely civil govern- 
ment; there are higher interests than those which are merely tempo- 
ral; for they will pass away. This council binds us to those higher 
interests, reaching from this, on to another life. And to be connected 
with a body like this, which takes action for the promotion of those 
interests, is a higher privilege tlian is enjoyed by any man whose 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 503 

duties relate merely to earthly things. I rejoice in it. I am grateful 
to you. I thank you for your forbearance toward me. I am grateful 
to God, who grants me this privilege. 

In this connection it may be well to answer the inquiry 
which will so naturally be made : " How did Governor 
Buckingham come by his peculiar qualifications for the 
work in life which he was called upon to do ? " He never 
was regarded as a genius. He never had a liberal educa- 
tion in the modern sense, only somewhat more than the 
ordinary advantages of a New England boy fifty years ago. 
He was trained to business, and by his good judgment, 
enterprise and integrity became successful in it. He had 
no political ambitions, and though he had distinct opinions 
upon public affairs, and in his own community used his 
influence to maintain what he regarded as the best adminis- 
tration of the government, he was content to serve his 
country there. He had always sat under the best of 
preaching and enjoyed it. He had been a careful student 
of the Bible and all his life a Sunday-school teacher, and 
acquired the pure and simple style of thinking and writing 
which so many scholars and public men have derived from 
the same source. Accustomed to undertake whatever came 
to him as a duty and train himself to do it properly, he 
was naturally called upon to fill important positions and 
sometimes to assume heavy responsibilities. And with no 
vanity from promotion, but with only an increased sense of 
responsibility and prayer for wisdom and fidelity, he stood 
modestly before the people of Connecticut when war was 
threatening and she was chiefly anxious to entrust her 
interests to safe keeping. Tnus introduced into public life 
at such a crisis, and with the people of the State having 
full confidence in his leadership and ready to follow him 
wherever he showed the way, he was enabled to give to that 
little State an influence out of proportion to her size in the 
settlement of the strife and the re-establishment of the Union. 



604 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

There was one kind of ability in which he was thought 
to excel, and that was to preside over public bodies, and 
judging from the frequency with which he was called upon 
for such service, there must have been some reason for it. 
We have the full and discriminating judgment of one of 
the members of the late council, which satisfactorily 
explains that matter. It was a large council, was in session 
ten days and occupied with all-important subjects, and 
made up of those who were making it the work of their 
lives to understand them. There were endless questions 
arising, and complicated ones, and in the freedom and 
earnestness of such discussions as actually took place 
there was occasion for perplexity and disorder. And yet 
this member writes : — 

No single facts perhaps worth repeating, stand out on the page of 
my memory respecting him. But my impressions of him and my 
judgment in respect to his character, are that he was a man eminently 
candid, courteous in his decisions, without being dilatory or timid; 
a man who when his mind was made up went straight to his mark, 
un warped by self-interest or prejudice. Whether he was a large 
reader of books or not, I could not determine. But in his public ad- 
dresses, his utterances always seemed to me to flow from a well- 
stored and cultured mind. His thoughts were lucid, his arguments 
full of that strong common sense which carries conviction, never sen- 
sational or farfetched, and always above the common-place style. 

What especially attracted my attention and elicited my admiration, 
when he presided over public meetings, was the perfect equipoise 
which he maintained. He knew his points of order, and fell into no 
blunders in a moment of excitement when questions of oider became 
complicated; he straightened out the tangle of debate with the most 
perfect ease without any show of flusters or even effort. 

That he was a solidly good man, all who associated with him bear 
a united testimony. Modest in his manner, kind and helpful in 
counsels, large-hearted and generous, and yet quiet in his benefac- 
tions; multitudes are even now rising up to call him blessed. — [Rev. 
Mr. Chesehrough of Connecticut. 

In regard to Governor Buckingham as a public speaker, 
and his style of address, Prof. Hoppin, the long-time pro- 
fessor of homiletics in Yale University, when consulted in 



WlLLIAai A. BUCKINGHAM. 505 

regard to it, instead of giving a criticism, gave this remem- 
brance of one of his war speeches, at the most critical 
period of the war: — 

On the evening of July 2, 1862, I attended a war meeting in New 
Haven. It was when matters were at the lowest ebb. Our armies 
were out-generaled, their existence imperiled. Admiral Foote, fresh 
from the Western campaign, presided over the vast meeting held in 
Music Hall. He and others made impressive addresses. But none of 
them compared with the speech of Governor Buckingham. It was as- 
tonishing in its electrifying power. It was the hour and the man. I do 
not know that Governor Buckingham was looked upon as a great orator 
for he did not speak much, though always sensibly and well, while in 
the Senate. But on this occasion he cast oratory and orators behind 
his back. It was the earnestness of absolute conviction, of love of 
country, that roused the depths of a noble nature. His speech was 
short, but every word told. His form seemed to expand, his voice to 
deepen, and his eye to grow luminous with the concentrated force of 
a lofty purpose. His manner was charged with power, and men's 
hearts were lifted from the depths of depression to a new height of 
courage and hope. He affirmed in a few words his confidence in the 
government. He declared that the time had come when we must be 
men enough to meet the crisis that was upon us. We had not yet 
half estimated the strength of the rebellion. The army was in danger 
and must be reinforced, or it and the country would be lost. Where 
one man was needed now, four more would be wanted a month hence. 
The surrender of one's life now would save a hundred lives hereafter. 
More men should be raised by volunteering and not by draft. Free- 
men should have the privilege offered them of fighting for tlie 
country. And he as Governor of the State of Connecticut would not 
draft men, except by direct order of the Executive. But what was 
now wanted was that they should lay their lives on the altar of their 
country. The foreign nations of the old world were clamoring for 
intervention. But, said he, in ringing tones: "If I had the entire 
American press at my command, I would send the voice of the whole 
nation across the Atlantic, and bid defiance to their combined power." 
These courageous words were received with tremendous enthusiasm, 
and were recognized as the utterances of a brave man, who spoke the 
words that ought to be spoken at that moment. This was more than 
eloquence — it was the living energy of truth and faith. 

The Governor's style of writing was familiar to the public 
through his messages to the Legislature, his proclamations, 
his correspondence as published, and was known to be clear, 



506 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

simple, dignified, appropriate, and sometimes magnificently 
noble and impressive. We must think his personal letter 
to President Lincoln, in June, 1862, urging him to call for 
many more troops if he expected to put down the rebellion, 
and pledging himself and his State to sustain him in it 
with all their resources, was in the perfection of style, and 
in the best of spirit. 

We append to this chapter, a photographed copy of his 
letter to President Johnson, conveying to him the com- 
munication which the Council made to him, upon the 
'■ state of the country." We give it in comparison with his 
other photographed letter, so hasty, and with only his ini- 
tials, announcing the occupation of Richmond by some of 
his troops, and with its bold and characteristic signature, 
found upon the commission of so many veteran soldiers 
and every State officer, and so familiar to everybody in 
Connecticut. 





(VjUj^^lXw ^fci, lu/rL/Yvy^Ui^CC d tIu, l^U^Aii tU^MX^ lJU^*4s. ^U/f. 



507 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Buckingham Day. 

Unveiling of the Statue — How Ordered and How Dedicated — Gather- 
ing: of Old Soldiers — Ceremonies and Addresses— Statue Placed 
Among the Battle Flags. 

Almost as soon as the new Capitol building at Hartford 
was finished, the proposal to place in it a statue of the War 
Governor was brought forward. The suggestion was first 
put in form at a meeting of the Hartford Veteran City 
Guard in 1881. A petition was presented to the Legisla- 
ture in the same year, and a special joint committee of the 
two houses was appointed. In the following year, on 
recommendation of this committee, a commission was 
appointed to procure a suitable statue. The commission 
consisted of Governor Hobart B. Bigelow, the Hon. Henry 
B. Harrison of New Haven, General William A. Aiken of 
Norwich, George G. Hill of Hartford, and Thomas I. 
Thurber of Putnam. They gave the commission for the 
statue to Olin L. Warner of New York, a native of Con- 
necticut and of patriotic ancestry. The sum paid for the 
statue was 110,000, and $6,000 was appropriated for the 
unveiling ceremonies, of which an unexpended balance was 
returned to the treasury. The legislative commission on 
the statue ceremonies was as follows : — 

John Allen, Senator from the 21st District, Captain S B. Home of 
Winchester, E. Barrows Brown of Groton, Jabez S. Lathrop of Nor- 
wich, General William H. Noble of Bridgeport, James W. Spellman of 
Suffield, George F. Speucer of Deep River, James R. Ayers of Orange, 
Thomas B. Walker of Coventry. 




The BncKiXGHASi Statue ik the Capitol. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 509 

The statue was placed in the west corridor of the Capi- 
tol, where on two sides are preserved in glass cases the 
battle flags of the Connecticut regiments, which Governor 
Buckingham had put into the hands of his troops when he 
sent them into the held, and which he received when they 
returned, with the commendation and sympathy which 
their achievements merited. These flags, it should be 
mentioned, had already been removed from the State 
Arsenal to the new Capitol, in 1879, with the most impos- 
ing military ceremonies. And nothing could have stirred 
the patriotism of the people, or brought together more of 
the inhabitants of the State, than those ceremonies, which 
were only equaled in their perfection of arrangement, and 
civic decorations, and gorgeous military display, by these 
of the " Buckingham Day." 

The unveiling of the statue was fixed for June 18, 1884. 
The city was hung with flags, and draperies, and inscrip- 
tions. The public buildings were, of course, richly deco- 
rated, while private dwellings excelled them in richness and 
taste, and some of the great business blocks were festooned 
along every story, with rich draperies trailing to the very 
ground. The inscriptions along the line of march were 
such as these : "The State will forever cherish his name;" 
" For such a man praise, honor and imitation, but not 
tears;" The Friend of Education;" "The Friend of the 
Slave ; " " Take good care of the Connecticut men ;" " We 
honor him who was a tower of strength in Church and 
State ; " " The earth which bears thee dead, has not alive 
a truer gentleman." 

No buildings could shelter such a crowd, and so tents 
were pitched about the State House and over Bushnell 
Park. No hotel or restaurant accommodation could feed 
such a multitude, and it was done under vast pavilions and 
at the public expense. It was a beautiful June day, though 
the heat was excessive, and many of the troops and espe- 



610 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

cially the veterans must have suffered from their march 
and long parade. But the parade was carried out in per- 
fect order by means of signals, when the movements of 
such a body were beyond the control of ordinary commands. 
About 7,000 men were in the line, and they were all virtu- 
ally military organizations, save the few civil officers and 
gucsis of the State. Every organization that went to the 
war from the State was well represented, with the single 
exception of the Third Light Battery, which maintains 
no organization. Every regiment was there, 200 or 250 
strong. The veterans were in dark clothes with white 
neckties and gloves, while the Connecticut National Guard 
in their State uniform, the Governor's foot guard in their 
Revolutionary and antique costumes, and the New York 
Seventh Regiment, the guests of the State, with their choice 
membership, equipments, and drill gave brilliancy to the 
scene, while bands of music and drum corps filled in every 
interval of the procession, and responded to each other in 
every variety of martial music. 

The procession was led by the grand marshal of the day, 
preceded by a platoon of police, and accompanied by hia 
general staff, aids and signal corps. This officer was Major 
John C. Kinney of Hartford, acting signal officer with 
Admiral Parragut in the capture of Mobile Bay, to whom 
we are indebted for the exact and graphic account of that 
fight, as seen from the masthead with the admiral, to be 
found in the " War Book," Vol. IV, p. 379. His general 
staff was as follows : — 

Major General Ilemy W. Birgc, Thirteenth C. V., assistant gfrand 
marshal; Captain William Berry, Twelfth C. V., department com- 
mander G. A. R., chief of staff; Major J. Hartwell Butler, U S. army, 
adjutant general; General L. A. Dickinson, captain Twelfth C. V, 
Hartford; General (Rev.) Erastus Blakeslee, New Haven, First Con- 
necticut Cavalry; Dr. Archibald T. Douglas, New London, surgeon 
Tenth C. V.; Dr. William M.Mather, Suffield, surgeon 173d N. Y. 
v.; Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull, Philadelphia, chaplain Tenth C. V.; 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 511 

Rev. J. H. Twichell, Hartford, chaplain Sickles Brigade; Lieutenant 
John C. Abbott, U. S. Signal Corps; Major C. L, Burdett. First C. N. 
G., engineei-.* 

In one of the divisions came, under the escort of the Gov- 
ernor's foot guard, Governor Waller and staff, mounted ; 
Captain George M. Southmayd, assistant marshal ; the 
Lieutenant Governor, ex-Governors of the State, the State 
officers, the Buckingham Statue Ccmmission, commis- 
sioners on the unveiling exercises, the orator of the day, 
United States Senator 0. H. Piatt ; the sculptor, Olin D. 
Warner, surviving State ofTicers of the war review, and 
military staff of Governor Buckingham; Judges of the 
Supreme and Superior Courts, Brigadier General S. R. 
Smith, C. N. G. and staff, military and naval guests and 
the mayor of Hartlord, and the mayors of other cities. 
Another division was made up of the " Union Battalion," 
soldiers of other States, 1,200 strong, and a navy battalion 
of 300 men, besides several detachments of Sons of Vet- 
erans. Still another division was composed of the Con- 
necticut Cavalry Association, with 250 members, led by 
one of our New England pastors, under the title of Brevet 
Brigadier General Erastus Blakeslee, followed by the First 
Light Battery, whose broken wheel, and numerous engage- 
ments in which it had borne an honorable part inscribed 
upon it, is one of the objects of interest among the treas- 
ured relics of the war ; the Second Light Battery, the First 
Regiment Heavy Artillery, under Major General Abbott, 
with 570 men — the regiment so prominent in the war, and 
forever to be associated with Malvern Hill and Gettysburg; 
the Second Regiment Heavy Artillery, Colonel Jeffrey 



* This list of names is eminently suggestive, names of those who wiien youn^ 
men. little more than boys, went into the war out of their patriotism, and \villi 
sood abilities and good principles did their best in a cause they appreciated, and 
rose from one rank to another, until the State is proud to honor them, and let them 
represent her and her part of the worlj, which she is this day immortalizing in 
marble and bronze. 



512 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Skinner, commanding, 250 men, and worthy to be asso- 
ciated with the First in the acliievcments of the war. 

Next came in order all the thirty regiments of the war, 
some of them represented by 200 or 250 men, while others 
scarcely reached 100 left of the 1,000 that went into the 
field. Each had had its own peculiar experience, like the 
Connecticut troops at the battle of Chancellorsville, when 
" fifty of them lay dead, and 136 lay wounded on the field, 
and 500 more were on their way to rebel prisons ; " or like 
the Sixteenth Connecticut, that unfortunate regiment, which 
was hurried into the battle of Antietam, undicipiined and 
scarcely armed, to be slaughtered in the "Cornfield," and 
soon after to be captured at Plymouth and sent to Ander- 
sonville prison, where, out of 400 men, less than 200 lived 
to come out.* The official account of the day says: — 

Headquarter tents were placed along the river bank of Busbnell 
Park, properly designated, and the veterans on arriving easily found 
their quarters, and formed companies and battalions vs'ithout delay. 
The column was formed in platoons of twelve files, closed in mass, 
the lines being handled by signals from elevated points commanding 
the entire line and preventing any breaks. The march was begun at 
12 o'clock, noon, and the head of the column reached the Capitol 
about 2 o'clock. The parade marched through Ford, Hoyt, Church 
and Ann streets to North Main, down Main, passing around City Hall 
and Post Office Square to the South Park, through Jefferson and 
Washington to the Capitol. All along the line of march the city was 
brilliantly decorated, and fiilly 70,000 people witnessed the parade. 
During its progress a national salute was tired and all the church 
bells were rung. 

Arriving at the Capitol the commission which had in 
charge the unveiling of the statue, the State ofhcials and 
the guests of the State, as well as the military staff and 
friends of Governor Buckingham, were detached from the 
procession, and as many more as could find room within 
the building where the services took place. 

The Hon. John Allen, chairman of the commission on 



THE DISABLED BATTERY WHEEL 



THE BATTLES IN WHICH IT HAD BEEN ENGAGED. 



'Thk Kikbt LfOHT JJattekv, Ct. Vol. A. P. Kockwkll, Caht." 




1. PocoUUgo, 8. C, May 28, 1862. 

2. James Island, 8. C, Jane 3. 4, 15. iG, 

1862. 

3. Ft. Finegan, Fla., Oct. :\ 18«s5. 

4. WiUtown, 8. C, July 10. 1863. 

5. James Lsland, S. C, July 16, 186-?. 

6. John's Island, S. C, Feb. 30, 1864. 

7. Chester Station, Va., May 9, 10, 1661 
& Richmond Turnpike. May 12. 1864. 
9. Drury's Bluff, Va., May 16. 1804. 

10. Bermuda Hundreds, Va.. May 19 

and June 27, 1664. 

11. West Bottom Church, Va., June 16, 

1864. 



12. strawberry Plains, Va., .Juiiy *;, 

18&1. 

13. Grover House, Va.. May 27. 1864- 

14. Four-mile Creek, Va., May 14, 1864. 
1.5. Deep Bottom, Va.. Aug. 27. 1864. 

16. Before Petersburg, Va., Aug. 25 to 

Sept. ^, 1864. 

17. Chapin's BluflF, Va.. Oct. 7. 1864. 

18. .John-vjn's Farm. Va.. Oct. 13, 27, 

and 28, 1864. 

19. Before Pachmond, Va., Oct.. 1864, to 

April, 18&5. 

20. Struck in action: Proctor's CTeek, 

Va.. May 15, 1865. 



51.' 



614 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

the unveiling ceremonies, introduced the Rev. Dr. Merri- 
man, who offered prayer. The statue was then presented 
to the State by the Hon. Henry B. Harrison of the statue 
commission, and accepted by Governor Waller. An ex- 
tract from each speech will give an idea of the feeling that 
dominated the occasion. Mr. Harrison's address oi pre- 
sentation was as follows : — 

YouK ExcELLKNCY : — To you, as the tjovernor and official represen- 
tative of the (State, the comraissiuiiers, who were directed by the 
General Assembly to procure and cause to be placed in the battle-flai^ 
vestibule of the Capitol a statue of Governor liuckinghani, have the 
honor to announce that they have discharged the duty whicli was 
thus imposed upon them. 

The statue is here. It is covered by the fla^ of the State and of the 
Nation entwined together. The hour has come for you to lift them 
and reveal to us the noble figure of your great predecessor. 

There was an illustrious Greek who declared that he had no accom- 
plishments or graces, but that he knew how to make a small State 
great. 

He whom to-day we honor was himself great, because he, too, knew 
how to make a small State great. If the greatness of the State was 
not made by him, it was by him enhanced and exalted. 

He was the chief of a State then containing less than 470,000 people. 
But he knew how, in the dread days of war, so to inspire and so to 
stimulate this little commonwealth as to make her send forth to 
battle and wounds and death on distant fields, for the sake of a 
righteous cause, more than 53,000 of her sons — more than one-third, 
almost one-half, of all the able-bodied men within her borders fit 
to bear arms. 

Perhaps, in his modesty, he did not know that he was great. We 
ourselves, who did know it, knew not how great he was until death 
and time, revealers of the truth, enabled us to take the just measure 
of his grand character and his lofty spirit. 

This imposing demonstration is the unerring witness to his great- 
ness. From every hill, from every valley, from every city, and from 
every hamlet in the State — from many States and from distant 
States — the scarred veterans of the holy war have gathered together 
here, moved by one spontaneous, magnetic, and irresistible impulse, 
to associate with this ceremonial the memories of their patriotism, 
their sacrifices, and their valor. With the soldiers of the land have 
come the warriors of tlie sea. And with the soldiers of the land and 
the warriors of the sea, a vast multitude of men, of all condiuons. of 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 616 

all temperaments, of all beliefs, aud of all passions, have come up 
hither with one accord and in unity of spirit as to a hij^h solemnity. 

What means this mij^hty movement? What means this universal 
and overpowering impulse? 

It is the mystery — the old and eternal mystery — of the power of a 
noble and royal spirit, a noble and heroic life, over the hearts and 
lives of men. 

He was great because he was a true type of the best characteristics 
of the race which founded and peopled Connecticut. 

His sagacity was unerring; his courage dauntless; his will inflex- 
ible; his devotion to duty supreme; his faith in God absolute. 

Like the race from which he sprung, he loved peace; but, like that 
race, he feared not war. 

The sculptor, himself a son of Connecticut, in whose veins runs 
the same blood that warmed the heart of one of her early heroes, 
has appioached with affectionate reverence the work which was com- 
mitted to his hands He was equal to the work. With the finger of 
genius he has touched the bronze and wakened it to life immortal. 
Remove, sir, the veil, and disclose to us the grave face and majestic 
form of the War Governor. 

Let us behold him in the midst of the surroundings which best 
befit him. 

This stately Capitol, with all wealth of marble and of granite 
and of decoration, is henceforth to be his appropriate resting pLice. 
This vestibule, consecrated already by these tattered flags which his 
right hand delivered to the brave men whom he sent forth to battle 
and his right hand received from them when they came back victo- 
rious, wili be made more sacred forever by his august presence. 

At the close of the address the statue was uncovered by 
Governor Waller, who made the address of reception, in 
which he said : — 

The stately tigures, in marble and bronze, of Trumbull and Buck- 
ingham, the War Governors of Connecticut in the Revolution and the 
Rebellion, now adorn this magnificent building, and the places they 
occupy are of historic import. The statue of Trumbull, who took 
such a conspicuous part in the formation of this government, stands 
where in honor it should, at the very portals of the Capitol of this 
commonwealth. The statue of Buckingham is appropriately here. 
Its position in this part of the Capitol, in which are placed the sad 
but honored trophies of our State in the War of the Rebellion, adds 
to its memorial significance, and these worn and blood-stained battle 
flags, standing like so many sentinels of honor to guard it, add to 
its glory. 



516 WILLI AiM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

Connecticut never rendered more fitting honors than those of tiv 
day, to either civilian or soldier, living or dead. 

Let us, fellow-citizens, on this memorable day, at the base of this 
statue, as at the foot of an altar, consecrate ourselves anew to that 
loyalty and devotion to our State and our country, that animated the 
life of him whose effigy we are beholding, and whose memory we 
revere. 

After the unveiling of the statue, the orator of the day, 
Hon. Orville H. Piatt, United States Senator from Con- 
necticut, fitly described the peaceful characteristics of the 
State, and paid worthy tribute to her love of liberty and 
generous response when called upon to save the Republic, 
whether from foreign enemies, or civil war. After describ- 
ing the long, sad course of events which led to the civil 
war, and the exigency of the times which demanded a 
peculiar leader, he finds in the parentage and training of 
Governor Buckingham, the man raised up for his times and 
work. So that the selection of him had as much of a 
providence in it as his training. 

To lead and direct a people thus inspired, William A. Buckingham 
■was specially chosen. In his fnultless character, one quality stood 
out strikingly — it was his sublime religious faith. It pervaded and 
energized the whole man. I know that the fervor of those days seems 
to have passed, so m>ich so, indeed, that it may seem inappropriate 
to dwell on this controlling element in Buckingham's character; but 
truth and justice demand it. Like Washington at Valley Forge, he 
met the crisis with prayer, and from the beginning to the end of the 
trial went forward with a calm bearing born of the undoubtiug faith 
that he was but an instrument in the hand of the Lord God Almighty 
to do His will, to preserve His chosen nation, to set His people free. 
Who shall deny, even in this skeptical day, that faith alone makes 
man truly great? It made Buckingham great; and we shall do but 
partial justice to his memory, or his ability, if we do not recognize 
and honor this noblest, grandest quality of the man. As I recall his 
bearing in those years of peril, I cannot but feel that he combined in 
character the stern justice of Israel's judge and the rapt spirit of the 
Hebrew prophet. His God, during the war, was the God of the Old 
Testament, He served Jehovah, the Man of War. The array of the 
Union was the army of the Lord. 

I may not dwell on the four long, sad years of bitter strife that 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 517 

followed. I must repress the desire to recall the heroic achievements 
of the sons of Connecticut on the glorified battle-fields of the Union, 
in victory, in defeat, in camp, in prison, in life, and in holy death, 
they were true to their State, their Country, to Freedom, and to God. 
I weave no chaplet of laurel for those vyho survive, for their fellov?- 
citizens have crowned them with reverence. I lay no flower garlands 
on the graves of the slain, for we cherish in our hearts to-day, and 
forever, the men who died to .save our country. 

Our present duty is to set forth the love and reverence borne by a 
grateful State for the man who, by his position, represented and 
embodied the purpose, devotion, and valor of all. Through the varying 
fortunes of the conflict he was the same active, faithful, uncompro- 
mising patriot. The people of the State acknowledged him as their 
lawful head, listened to his advice with profouud respect, obeyed his 
orders with a perfect obedience, rei^osed in him a loyal confidence, 
and learned to love him with a rare love. No other man but Trum- 
bull ever so illustrated the rich meaning of the word we have chosen 
to designate our chief magistrate — he was most truly and emphati- 
cally our Governor. The duties of his office were arduous and trying; 
but he never seemed to feel weariness. He was never content with 
the formal discharge of official duty. He was the foremost citizen, 
as well as the elected ruler of the State, and his great heart gave 
character to his public acts. At the outset he pledged his private 
fortune for the equipment and arming of the troops. Whatever 
money could procure for their comfort and enjoyment, beyond the 
things authorized by the State, he supplied at his own expense. The 
sum of his benefaction will never be told. Benevolent by nature, 
his Christian experience taught him that he was God's steward and 
almoner, and he gave as he believed God's Spirit prompted him. His 
gifts gladdened many a soldier in distress 

Probably not one of the War Governors, who held with steady hand 
the helm of State during the perilous storm, was more relied on by 
the Presideat than Buckingham. Very early in the war, foreseeing 
the magnitude of the contest, he addressed the President a letter 
setting forth his views on the situation. Many of the suggestions 
contained in that letter were embodied in the President's message to 
Congress on the 4th of July, 1S61, and from that date onward Lincoln 
frequently consulted him. It is related of the President that being 
introduced to a Connecticut gentleman during the war, he quickly 
and impressively said: "Do you know what a good Governor you 
have got?" To another he said : "The Connecticut regiments give 
me no trouble; Governor Buckingham always sends them fully 
equipped for any emergency." 

Well might the President rely on him. The country contained no 
truer patriot, no safer counselor. There may have been greater men. 



518 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

as the world counts greatness, but Buckingham, by his pure life, by 
his unselfish loyalty, by his intense love of the right, by his singleness 
of purpose, by his trust in the Lord of Hosts, earned his right to a 
place among the "heroes of faith." 

At the conclusion of these ceremonies the Capitol was 
thronged, as it had been before they began, with a surging 
crowd, eager to see the statue of their War Governor, and 
to recognize the flags under which they or their friends 
had gone forth to the war. The impression made by the 
statue is justly given in the accounts of the unveiling. It 
is a representation of the Governor in a sitting position, of 
heroic size, and by common consent a good likeness. The 
artist, in representing him as the War Governor, has very 
properly and successfully given him the stern and spirited 
expression which the duties of his office would inspire. 
And while some at first sight might be disappointed in not 
finding the kindly-spirited and gentle-mannered man they 
were accustomed to meet with in private, reflection satisfied 
them that such a modification was required and has been 
successfully made. Perhaps the size and spirit of the 
statue would be softened to advantage if seen from a little 
greater distance. Be that as it may, it is a noble represen- 
tation of the man, and in that character of which the State 
may well be proud. Strangers who go there must admire 
it, especially in its noble building and impressive surround- 
ings. Citizens may well take satisfaction in showing it to 
strangers, and if, when they are complimented upon the 
building and the statue, they modestly inform us that they 
were both furnished " within the appropriation," we think 
none the less of their taste and patriotism, because they 
have been combined with economy and integrity. The 
papers of the day especially represent the interest of the 
veterans as they crowded around the stati;c, and told their 
wives and children of some kindness the Governor showed 
their regiment, or pointed out the faded and tattered flag 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 519 

under which they fought, and the gilded names of Roanoke 
Island, Port Hudson, or Fort Fisher, where they received 
their wounds and won their promotion.* 

This, let it be remembered, was the regiment that refused 
to sign a petition to President Lincoln for an exchange, 
when our government had suspended such exchanges, on the 
ground of some inequality and unfairness it was seeking to 
remedy. They refused to sign such a petition lest it might 
" embarrass the government in its dealings with the Rebel- 
lion." ("Connecticut in the War," Chap. XXXll.) 

Another incident occurred at the close of those cere- 
monies, which illustrates the Governor's regard for the mass 
of the people, their freedom of access to him, and their 
attachment to him. An old man came and wished to speak 
with the Governor's daughter. " You remember," he said, 
" that when your father was first Governor, he used to ride 
a beautiful parade horse called the ' Pathfinder.' That was 
my horse, and after his second or third election, I came 
into the city and went to the State House to tell him 1 was 
glad he was chosen again." " yes," his daughter said, 
" we all remember that beautiful horse, and how he enjoyed 
riding it." " ' Well,' said your father, • I suppose 1 can 
have your " Pathfinder " again.' ' Xo,' I told him, ' " Path- 
finder" is dead.' ' What?' said he. -Then I don't see 
how I am to be Governor,' laying his hand on my knee." 
And the tears ran down the old man's face, as much out of 

* T ne writer remembers, in visiting the Capitol with his grandsons, an'J pointing 
out the flag of the Sixteenth Regiment (the unforttmate one with its Andt rsonville 
•rxperience, whose fresh new fiag bore on it a little shield made up of bits of the 
old one, which the men tcre in pieces and concealed about their i^ereons when 
they were captured), that an old soldier came up and said of another standard by 
Its side. *' This is my fia^-." We did not need to ask him how he had fared under 
it, for his arm was gone at the shoulder. Soon another joined him and said 
t'^at the next standard was the one he fought under, and being asked if he had 
escaped all injury, he showed a wooden leg. Then came a third, saying : *" The 
Sixteenth was nay regiment.''' And when we said : *' WeU, my friend, you seem to 
haye fared better than your comrades ; " " Oh, yes," he replied. " but we all Ilv^ed 
on the same rich soup in prison." And these are scenes that will be repeated as 
long as there are veterans to teU of such things, or they have descendants to 
rehearse such jathetic stories. 



620 WILLIAM A BUCKINGHAM. 

regret at disappointing his friend as at the loss of his 
favorite horse. 

Thus the people of Connecticut have enshrined in their 
Capitol building to immortality, so far as marble and bronze 
can do it, the most precious and suggestive memorials of 
their late war. And whatever may befall them in the 
convulsions of nature, or the revolution of empires, they 
transmit them still more imperishably to the pages of his- 
tory, which must remain so long as there shall be any 
human beings here to read them, and human history to be 
read. Parents will tell of such things to their children, 
and children's children will repeat the story to their chil- 
dren. Posterity will read of such deeds done by their an- 
cestors, and as they read the same blood will be stirred 
in their veins, and they be roused to equal heroism when it 
is called for. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
To THE People of Connecticut. 

A Reminder of What They Have Been— What Made Them What 
They are — The Character They Have to Maintain. 

An organist hardly feels that his musical service is com- 
plete, without a suitable postlude to hi's performance, as 
well as a prelude. And as the author of this memoir has 
had as much regard for you in this work, as for your Gov- 
ernor, he takes the liberty of calling attention to certain of 
your characteristics as a people, which stood you in good 
stead in all the crises of the war ; to certain influences and 
events in your earlier history to which you owe such charac- 
teristics, and to what should be the benefits of some of your 
recent history to your State and to posterity. 

To the Southerner, all New Englanders were Yankees in 
the most objectionable meaning of the term. But the Con- 
necticut Yankee was a peculiar species of the class, bright, 
sharp for business, loving money and never spending it 
except to make more. There was something nasal about 
his voice, and awkward about his manners, and he had no 
fine qualities of blood and breeding. In older times when 
men in public life were not so sectional or partisan, and 
personal friendships were formed stronger than afterwards, 
we used to hear of the pleasantries that passed between 
Southerners and Northerners ; like that of the one who saw 
a drove of mules going by the Capitol at Washington, and 
called his brother Senator to the window to see a company 
of his constituents, and the reply was, '' Yes, they are 
going South to teach school." Down to the very opening 
of the war, when a Southern mother, standing with her boy 



622 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

before Washington's noble statue at Richmond, was heard 
teaching him : " There, my son, you see Washington is 
turning his back upon the North, and only looks with satis- 
faction and blessing upon the South ; " the South had this 
low opinion of you, and instilled it into their children. 

But how unjust this opinion was your history had shown, 
and your coming action was to do away with it forever. 
Your country was a rough one, and your climate vigorous 
for half the year, so that industry and economy had to be 
considered prime virtues. You had to do your own work, 
or pay for it when done by others. But you knew how to 
accumulate your gains, and use them as capital for larger 
enterprises; you made your water power drive your ma- 
chinery, and by invention improved your machinery and 
methods of business until you could not only bring cotton 
from the South and return it in clothing to advantage, but 
export it also to the ends of the earth ; you utilized the very 
ice of your ponds as well as the timber of your forests and 
the clay of your valleys, together with the granite from 
your hills, to furnish yourselves and others with the com- 
forts and benefits of a higher civilization. 

You knew the value of education and Christianity also. 
You would not incorporate towns even on the outposts of 
civilization, unless they would provide schools and churches 
with an educated ministry. You must have your colleges 
almost from the first, and sent your contributions to Harvard 
until you could support one of your own. And when those 
twelve ministers (with little more than their piety, and a 
few books) founded the one which has since grown into 
your noble University, with its various departments of 
literature, theology, philosophy, natural science, sociology, 
law and medicine, where so many of the statesmen and 
professional men and scientists of the land have been 
trained for the last two centuries, it is proof that you have 
always valued other things than money, and have labored 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 523 

as hard to secure the former as the latter. Your common 
schools, free to all, have been cheerfully sustained by those 
who have had anything to be taxed, whether they had any 
children or not. Your State, if we mistake not, was the 
first to set apart a school fund of •f2,000,000 for this pur- 
pose. And the result has been, that it is rare to find one 
of your native population who cannot read and write, — read 
the newspapers and books, and write an intelligible letter, 
and affix his signature to his own will. 

You have been learning, too, the best use of property. 
When so many are giving liberally out of their competency 
or their wealth, and many more out of straitened means or 
even poverty, to whatever will promote the public good, the 
relief of distress, the elevation of the oppressed, the promo- 
tion of better morals, the most thorough Christianization 
of this country, and the evangelization of the whole world, 
who can say that this is not the greatest and best attain- 
ment that can be made in this age of progress ? When we 
think of the possibilities that are open to us in this direc- 
tion ; — in the intellectuality and education of the people, 
which would put the wealth of science more fully into our 
possession, the skill of trained artisanship, the resources of 
invention, the treasures of history and the refinements of 
art ; when moral and religious culture shall have saved us 
from the exhaustless waste of vice and fraud, to say nothing 
of needless incompetency and reckless mismanagement in 
business, and especially when there shall be enough of the 
spirit of Christianity in the community to make us " fear 
God and keep his commandments," " love our neighbor as 
we love ourselves," seek " another's wealth," as well as our 
own, be " kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one 
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us ; " — 
what mines of wealth, priceless in value and limitless in 
extent, are found all around us, if they were only developed! 

There could hardly be a better illustration of this subject, 



624 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

or one more honorable to you, than the two gifts from your 
State of a million each, for the education and religious 
improvement of the colored people of the South, the Slater 
fund and the Hand fund, the only gifts for the same pur- 
pose and of equal amount that have come from any quarter. 
The Peabody fund is a noble charity, but that is for the 
white population especially, while these are for the Freed- 
men, the most needy and depressed, and are absolutely 
necessary to qualify them for the citizenship which has 
been conferred upon them, and which they are not yet 
capable of exercising. This is the supreme wisdom of such 
a charity, and as full of benevolence to the whole country 
as it is to the South. 

Your generous use of money also for carrying on the 
war, the way in which individuals pledged their fortunes, 
the banks offered loans, the towns taxed themselves to 
raise volunteers and support their families, the Legislature 
appropriated $4,000,000 to raise and equip troops, and the 
State loaned its credit to aid the general government, ought 
to stifle forever the ancient reproach that you were a mer- 
cenary and mean-spirited people.* 

But more than all, you gave yourselves, as well as your 
money, to the cause of your country, and herein showed 
your truest patriotism. Few shrank from enlistment who 
were fit for military service and could be spared from 
duties at home, and as the state of things became more 
critical, instead of sending substitutes, your citizens felt 
under greater obligation to go into the field themselves, so 
that the most independent in their circumstances and the 



* Nor should it ever be forgotten to your credit that it was a citizen of your 
State, Hon. C. S. Bushnell of New Haven, who himself and his friends advanced 
the money which enabled Ericsson to build his Monitor, saved our navy in its 
greatest peril, and revolutionized the system of naval shipbuilding throughout 
the world. Our naval department saw nothing promising in such a war vessel and 
the government had no spare funds to risk upon such an experiment, but this 
private citizeu of yours, virtually at his own risk and expense, saved the nation 
from disaster, and made this contribution to the defense of every nation. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 525 

ablest in every profession and position were to be found in 
our army. There was a private in one of the Connecticut 
regiments we know, who, when the government was largely 
in arrears to them, drew his check for the back pay of the 
whole regiment. And the assertion of Mr. Lincoln, which 
was ridiculed abroad, that he could have filled every office 
in his cabinet from more than one single regiment in the 
service, was justified. You sent 50,000 men into the field 
out of a population of less than half a million, or more 
than one to every ten inhabitants, counting men, women 
and children. Your State never had to submit to a draft 
to furnish your quota, but had a surplus of 6,000 to her 
credit when the war was over. The honor your volunteers 
did themselves and your State, on land and sea, in cam- 
paigns like McClellan's, on the battlefields of the Wilder- 
ness, Antietam and Gettysburg ; the high rank in the army 
to which so many of them attained, largely from civil life ; 
the illustrious dead, so many of whom sleep in your village 
burying grounds, the constant shrine of love and flowers ; 
and so many more who rest in unknown graves, and just 
outside, perhaps, of some prison pen, where unassuaged 
grief can never make any expression of affection for them, 
or of its admiration of the sacrifice they made for others, — 
these are matters of truthful and eternal history, and they tell 
whether you have any patriotism, or self-sacrifice, or nobility. 
What is nobility in its truest sense ? Is it to have some 
royal blood in your veins, like that of Charles the First, or 
trace your descent to some titled ancestor, like his Attorney 
General, who prosecuted all the patriots in his Parliament 
for high treason ? Or would you rather find yourself 
descended from one of those patriots, Hampden or Sir 
Henry Vane, characters whom all respect, and whose 
services will be appreciated as long as personal rights are 
cherished and unjust taxation opposed ? Would you 
rather inherit the faith of the Reformers, who sloughed off 



626 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

from the church the corruptions of the middle ages, or 
possess the self-sacrifice of the Pilgrims, who would plant 
a pure church and a Christian commonwealth in this wilder- 
ness, or have given your money, or risked your life, or 
surrendered your best friends to either prison or death, to 
save that church from injury, this commonwealth from 
overthrow ? Then we can assure you that your patent of 
nobility will stand quite as high in the court of heaven, 
and in the best judgment of mankind, as if you could trace 
your descent from ever so many royal families and the 
highest titled estates. 

There is such a thing as a noble parentage and honorable 
heredity, which should be respected and cherished, whether 
the chain of connection be one of birth and blood, or only 
of spirit and similar character. We are proud of our 
Protestant ancestry, our Cromwellian spirit, especially if we 
bear the name of one who came over in the Mayflower, or 
who was an important settler in Massachusetts Bay, or a 
planter of either the Hartford or the New Haven colony. 
And we have reason to feel so, for there are few influences 
more ennobling than to wear an honored name, and be 
always striving to do it credit. Happily for us, the great 
names of history were apt to have some strong character- 
istics behind them, and not infrequently some noble virtue 
and rare achievement in a rude age. When these quali- 
ties and such a spirit have characterized for generations a 
family or a people, like the Scotch Covenanters, the French 
Huguenots, or the New England Puritans, it is neither 
affectation nor folly to prize such historic associations and 
yield to their influence. For they bind us to the past, and put 
us under bonds to the future. Happy is the people whose 
ancestry can be thus honored and their example imitated.* 



♦ If any one is desirous of knowing haw much noble blood was brought over to 
New England in its early settlement, he will be interested to refer to such a work 
as Chancellor Walworth's " Genealogy of the Hyde Family." The question had 
been raised as to the birthplace and family of Jeremiah Mason, the great Hos'on 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 627 

Your characteristics have been largely the result of such 
parentage and history. 

Our New England settlers are well known to have gener- 
ally come from the beat English middle classes, the land 
owners and country squires, and some thrifty merchants, 
like the planters of the New Haven colony, with a large 
percentage of university men, like our ministers and magis- 
trates. They brought with them their Protestant faith in 
its purity and simplicity, and their ideas of religious and 
civil liberty, and the conviction that men could govern 
themselves in the State as they were doing in the churches, 
without either king or pope. They made it a religious duty 
not only to maintain liberty, but also to support civil govern- 
ment. They recognized " the powers that be," or established 
governments, "• as ordained of God," and to be maintained, 
while they demanded just and equal and useful legislation. 
And these duties were enforced, not merely for social safety 
and from economic considerations, but by all the motives 
and obligations of Christianity. They were taught from 
the pulpit their duties to the government, as well as to God 
and their fellow-men, until they knew what good govern- 
ment was, and that both duty to God and to men required 



lawyer, the contemporary of Daniel Webster and quite liis equal as a lawyer. He 
was born in Lebanon, the birthplace of the Trumbulls and of Governor Bucking 
ham. His ancestor in this country was Captain John Mason of Pequot fame, who 
received a considerable part of that township in repayment of his public service at 
that critical period of our history. In the pursuit of those inquiries, the lineage of 
this decendant is traced back step by step and with th 3 highest authorities for its 
correctness, to William the Conqueror, and Matilda of Scotland, and Alfred the 
Great, and several other An^lo-Saxon kings. And not only so, but he sprang also 
from Louis the Fair of France, and from Charlemagne, the great Emperor of the 
West. 60 that with that family aloce, came blue blood enough into New England 
to stock a kingdom. 

There was another personage also among our first settlers, Elizabeth St. John, 
wife of Rev. Samuel Whiting, first minister of Lynn, Mass., who brought over a 
richer inheritance of noble character as well as of high rank, than probably any 
other, and her blood is so well scattered among our most familiar names, that 
nobody need feel surprised to find himself belonging t'l the '"first families," and 
if his character justifies a nobler descent than that ot mere blood, few will call in 
que-tion his claim to any rank. — [" Genealogy of the Hyde Family,^' by Chancellor 
Walworth. Vol- J J. p. 926. 



528 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

that they should have it. So they were no reckless an- 
archists, nor shallow socialists, but the best possible 
material for self-government. It was by one of your pas- 
tors (Rev. Thomas Hooker of Hartford) that the plan of 
your State government and of the general government was 
virtually outlined at first. Yours also was the only colony 
which had a charter that gave the right to choose your own 
governor, while the rest had such appointments from the 
crown, and as a consequence. Governor Trumbull was the 
only patriot among them when the rest proved " Tories." 
And that right you deemed so sacred that when the charter 
which gave it was demanded of you, you refused to give it 
up, and hid it in the famous " Charter Oak," the likeness 
of which is carved over the entrance to your Capitol, to be 
cherished as the guardian of your liberties. This is what 
made your State so patriotic in the Revolutionary war and 
Governor Trumbull s'uch a leader in it, and made it so easy 
for you and your War Governor of the Rebellion to imitate 
such noble examples. 

Such have always been the influences which have molded 
communities and nations, and have been more potent than 
location and circumstances, or even race and heredity. They 
have made Great Britain what she is, on her little island, 
and with her world-wide enterprise. They have made 
France and Germany and Russia what they are, as their 
peculiar ideas have been incorporated into their institu- 
tions, and illustrated by their history. And so it will be 
essentially to the end of time. Nations may be swept 
away from even strong foundations, as the Roman Empire 
was from her fine organization of government and noble 
system of civil law. But such institutions and influences 
are the best security against national ruin, as yet discovered, 
especially when truth, justice and benevolence underlie them, 
and Christianity holds a people under its individual and 
almost omnipotent control. 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 529 

It is such history of your worthy deeds and such memo- 
rials of them which are to perpetuate your noblest charac- 
teristics. We know how nations may be sometimes swept 
away from the best foundations and rush into a wicked 
war, like ours with Mexico, for the extension of slave terri- 
tory ; or oppress some particular classes and deny them 
their simplest rights, as we did so long to the slave and the 
Indian ; or corrupt politics by buying votes and counting 
them fraudulently, and rewarding party services with the 
spoils of office, as we have seen so often done. We know 
how wealth has been found controlling legislation or party 
politics, putting judges on the bench on purpose to defeat 
good laws, and defying public sentiment because it had the 
power to do so, as we have also seen to our grief and almost 
despair. We have seen the great metropolis of this nation 
administering its city government to enrich its office holders, 
and subjecting the community to the heaviest taxation for 
such a purpose, and contemptuously answering back to 
their complaints : " What are you going to do about it ? " 
when there seemed no possible remedy. But you know as 
well, that an uujust though successful war and ample slave 
territory could not fasten upon us forever, slavery and the 
slave trade. You know, too, the poor Indian, long ago des- 
tined to extermination, has escaped it, and is acquiring the 
rights of property and citizenship, the benefits of education 
and Christianity, in spite of everything. And have you 
not seen, also, the most corrupt legislation and the worst 
politics driven out from the halls of Congress, the Legisla- 
tures of the States, and from the proudest metropolis by 
the revolt of public sentiment against such corruption ? 
Those who defied public sentiment so arrogantly, have you 
not seen such criminals dying in prison and fleeing into 
exile, poor and friendless, " fugitives and vagabonds in the 
earth ? " These are influences which lie back of force and 
back of votes even, and can re-eniorce both as nothing else 



530 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

can, and which any rightly disposed community under our 
system of free voting can use with resistless power against 
any sort of corruption. These are moral influences which 
are mightier than force or fraud, and though we may some- 
times be overborne by the latter and somebody have to 
suffer martyrdom, we expect in the end to conquer. Truth 
and righteousness and humanity are mightier than falsehood 
and fraud and oppression. And God himself is always on 
that side, though he does not immediately vindicate the 
right, but will in the end. Wickedness is folly as well as 
crime, and as the Scriptures say, it is " the fool who hath 
said in his heart. There is no God." Those who undervalue 
these forces of the universe are sure to be mistaken and 
must make a failure in their plans, when it is the " right- 
eous eventually who shall inherit the land." 

This is the lesson you have been taught by your late his- 
tory. When no one else cheered you on in that great 
struggle, save the old statesman of Huguenot descent who 
saw in it the " Uprising of a Great People," and foretold your 
success because your cause was based upon inherent righteous- 
ness and humanity and the favor of heaven ; when you 
took little account of mere probabilities of success, and only 
knew what you must do and would do to be worthy sons of 
your sires, and preserve the government upon which the 
best institutions of society depend and can only be furnished 
to other lands ; when you counted this as your highest duty 
and cared no more for what it cost, whether of comfort, or 
property, or life itself, than the early martyrs did, it made 
such patriotism come near to martyrdom itself. We have 
often wondered, if an age of persecution should return to 
the church, whether martyrs would offer themselves again 
as freely as in those early times. But when we saw the 
choicest of our youth and maturest of our citizens volun- 
teering for the service more freely than adventurers, we 
knew Christianity was safe even in charge of the imperfect 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 531 

people who represent it. If " the blood of the martyrs is 
the seed of the church," so will the dust of patriots breed 
heroes anywhere, especially when men have been reared 
under such a parentage and such history as yours. 

Still more confidently is this to be expected when the 
world is evidently coming faster under the higher influences 
of civilization and the purer influences of Christianity. 
The night has been long and dismal, but the morning is 
promised and in places is already tinging the horizon, and 
will tip the mountain tops and penetrate the valleys, until, 
as Longfellow has said: "It's morning everywhere!" 
There seems to be a general impression that the next cen- 
tury is likely to bring with it improvements in the condition 
of mankind, such as have never been known before. 
Whether this hope is born of the need of it, or of the 
countless experimental work that is being done for every 
class and condition of men, and the world-wide enthusiasm 
which beats in so many hearts to benefit somebody — like 
the strong expectation of the world's Messiah when he 
came — it is a distinct expectation and strong hope that 
light up our future. Most of us who have reached a good 
old age and experienced all the vicissitudes and anxieties 
of life, might hardly wish to live far into the new century, 
but we should be glad if we could see through the eyes of 
our children's children some of the glory that is coming. 
But it is not so much along the lines of material wealth 
and development, great as this must be, that we look for 
the greatest improvement, but in better characters, better 
lives, better families, better governments, in all that is 
meant by the establishment of tlie kingdom of heaven upon 
this earth. When the aged and beloved apostle looked out 
from his imprisonment upon Patmos over the boundless 
sea and up into the infinite heavens, where his Master was 
upon the throne, he saw " a new heaven and a new earth, 
and its capital the holy city, the New Jerusalem coming 



632 WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. 

down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned 
for her husband." It satisfied his heart, realized all his 
hopes, and content to lay down his work, he responded to 
his Lord's assurance : " Surely I come quickly." " Even 
so come, Lord Jesus." 



ILUAM'ILFl 
BUCKINiHIM 

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OF-COMNECTICUT 



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UMITED ° ST1.TES 
SINAT©! 



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MIS-WELL-EMFLIXEELI-HES 



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Inscription on the Governor's Monument. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



AiKBN, William A.. 144. 

Alabama Claims, 439-445. 

Alabama, interview with builder of, 

445-448 
Appomattox, surrender at, 388-393. 
Armies, condition of 307, 308. 
Arms for the South. 124. 
Army and Navydi ors:anized at open- 
ing of the war. 160. 
Army of the Potomac, 2IG, x!17, 221, 

223, 313, 330. 
Assassination of Lincoln. 

■J'he plot, 403. 

Its execution, 404, 405. 

Punishment for. 405. 
Atlanta, capture of. .350. 

Baldwin. Roger S., 79, 88, 90. 
Baltimore. 

Attack on Massachusetts reei- 
ment, 144. 
Bancroft. George. 261. 
Banks offer money for the war, 129. 
Bates, Edward, 109. 
Battell, Bobbins. 79. 
Battle Flags in Connecticut State 

Capitol. .509. 
Battles, described or .specially men- 
tioned. 

Antietam, 308. 

Bentonville, 377. 

Bull Kun. 172, 177. 

Chattanooga. 312-318. 

Ctiickahominy. 232. 

Five Forks, 384-386. 

Georgia campaign, 342-359. 

Gettysburg, 268, 270, 308. 

Glendale. 2b9. 

Grant's flank movements, ;i3;i-:J36. 

Malvern Hill, 241. 

Mechanicsvi le, 230. 

Mobile Bay. 370-374. 

Vicbsburg, 268, 270. 

"Wilderness 3:5l-.336. 
Bissell, George P.. 252. 
Hlair, Montgomery. 109. 
Booth, Wi kes, 403-405. 
Border States, 123. 
Bounties for enlistment, 251. 
Bovd, John, 1.32. 
Brandegee, Augustus, 157. 
Breckinridge John C, 60. 
Brewster, James, 137. 
Buchanan. Robert. 

His administration and its failure, 
40. 

His character, 41, 42, 107. 

Mess-^ee to congress in the autumn 
of 1859, 44. 

Justifies demolition of the Union, 
04. 

His cabinet divided. 65. 

His opinion of Lincoln's inaugural, 
109. 



Buckingham. 

The family in this country, 1-3. 
Joanna (Matson), 10-12. 
Hamuel. 3, 7, 8. 
Rev. Thomas, colonist, minister 

and one of the founders of 

Yale College, 1. 2. 
"Buckingham Day," .507, .520. 
Buckingham IJifles, 1:34 
Buckingham statue, 507. 
Buckingham, William A. 
Birth. 3. 

Home and training, 4-'0. 
Early occupations and business 

life, 15,16. 
Elections as eovernor, 32, 37, 50, 

128, 209. 360, 430. 
Messages,. 34, 38. .52. 1.54, 179, 211.361. 
Friendship with Abraham Lincoln, 

49. 
Gubernatorial canvass of 1860. 48, 

53. 
Instructions to members of Peace 

Convention. 79. 
First call for volunteers, 123. 
Pledges his private fortune to 

equip soldiers, 130. 
His early estimate of the great- 
ness of the war. 131. 
Buys arms and equipments on bis 

own responsibility, 141. 
Assures President Lincoln that the 

North will support him, 144. 
His letter offering the president 

$2,000,000 and lO.OoO men, 1.58. 
Offers more troops, 159. 
Letters to Simon Cameron. May 18 

and July 26. 1861, 163. 164. 
Letter to General Daniel Tyler, 165. 
Appeal to the president to increase 

the army, 166. 
His promise that no state shall 

furnish more or better troops 

than Connecticut, 164,431. 
Proclamation calliug for loyal sup- 
port of the government, 184. 
Conferences with the president, 

188. 
Assures the people of their ability 

to mtet all aemands, 212. 
Order issued after Peninsular cam- 
paign. 249. 
Letter to the president on slavery, 

263. 
Call for volunteers to suppress 

possible draft riots, 280. 
Reply to criticism of action in 

preparation for draft riots, 281. 
Appointment of officers from civil 

life, 291. 
His care for soldiers, 293, 296, 301, 

302. 303, 305. 
Reception of returning volunteers, 

305, 306. 



534 



ALPHABETICAL INDKX. 



Fac-slmile of letter auuouuciiiLr 

the fall of Richmond, 419. 
Urges ratification of the Thii- 

ttentti Amendment, 435. 
Interview with the builder of the 

Alabama, 445-4 18. 
Elected United States senator, 4.VJ. 
Family life, 452, 453. 
Life as senator, 454-461. 
Bis committees, 458-460. 
His death at Norwich, 401. 
Tributes from the press. 463-472. 
His funeral at Norwich, 472-475. 
Utterances of public men as to his 

life and service, 475-493. 
Personal traits. 494. 
Qualifications for his work. 503. 
Moderator of First Congregational 
Council, 496. 502. 
Bull Run, 172, 177, 183. 
Burnham. Georsre Si., lai, 134. 
Butler, B. P., 181, 265. 

Cameron, Simon, 109. 

Camps of instruction, 136, 290. 

Catliu, Julius, 141. 

Chase. Salmon P., 109. 

Chattanooga, capture of, 312-318. 

Chickahominy, 226. 

Christian Commission, 297, 298. 

Civil and mill ary power, 34 

Clark, David, 137. 

Cleveland, Ch--uncey F., 79, 135. 

Colt. Samuel, ]-i4, 162. 

Confederate finances, 271. 

Confederate troops. 

Demoralized, 357. 

Distress at time of surrender, 387. 
Congregational council at Boston, 496. 
Congress. 

Extra session July 4, 1861, 123, 173. 

Authorized call for .500,000 addi- 
tional troops, 166. 
Connecticut. 

People of, 522-528. 

Its first regiment, 161, 290, 291. 

Its credit lent to the general gov- 
ernment, 171, 289. 

Its contribution in troops and 
money to the war, 431. 

Suffered no draft, 255. 
Connecticut Legislature. 

Indorses the governor's action as 
to volunteers, 143. 

Session of 1801. 154. 

Crittenden compromises, 184. 

Resolutions after the Peninsular 
campaign, 210. 

Not a single disloyal member, 274. 

Action as to soldiers' votes, 362. 
Connecticut Volunteers. 

Those first sent, 182, 183, 194, 195. 
197. 

Regiments at Bull Run, 192. . 
Commissioned officers from these 
three regiments, 185. 

Three-months' and three-years' 
men, 162. 

Their patriotic impulse, 186. 

Training camps, 187. 

Officers from civil life, 291. 

Men who became generals, 292. 



The attention volunteers received 

from the governor, 293, 296. 
Provision for sending their pay to 

their families, 295. 
Work of voluntary associations 
for them. 297-300. 
Constitutional amendments, 367, 436, 

437. 
Crisis of 1857, 31 
Crittenden compromises, 184, 273. 

Davis, Jefferson, 46. 65. 73, 364. 
Deming, Henry C, 157, 181. 
Douglas, Stephen A. 

Debates with Lincoln, 54-59. 

Candidacy in 1860, 59, 60. 

Opinion of Lincoln's inaugural, 110. 

Views after the tiring on Sumter. 
121. 

His death, 157. 
Draft. 

First suggestion of, 250. 

Connetcicut escapes it, 855. 

Ri.ns, 276-279. 

Volunteers to suppress riots, 280. 
Dred Scott decision, 24, 25. 

Eddy, Rev. Hiram. 132. 
Election (presidential). 

In 1860, 46. 47, 61. 

In 1864. 364. 
Election frauds in Connecticut, 51, 53, 
Election parade, 33. 
Bmancipntion. 

President Lincoln's attitude. 112. 

Development of feeling for it, 256. 

Lincoln's plan by purchase, 256. 

The proclamation, 264. 267. 
Eulogies or sketches of Governor 
Buckingham. 

I N. Tarbox, 477. 

Noah Porter, 475. 

Senator Ferry, 480 

Senator Frelinghuysen, 484. 

Senator Stevenson, 485. 

Senator Wright. 485. 

Senator Bayard, 486. 

Senator Eaton. 487. 

Senator Pratt, 488. 

Senator Thurman, 489, 

Senator Howe, 491. 

Senator Morton, 432. 

Congressmen Hawley, Stark- 
weather and Kellogg of Con- 
necticut ; Wilson of Iowa, 
and Potter of New York, 493. 

Farragut, Admiral, .371, 374. 

Perry, Orris S., 134, 480. 

Field, David Dudley, 86, 

Financial strength of the North, 211. 

First Connecticut Cavalry, 198, 200, 

First Connecticut Heavy Artillerv, 193, 

195, 197, 201, 300. 
First Connecticut Light Battery, 197, 
Fort Fisher, 193. 370,378. 
Port Pickens, 203. 
Franklin, William B.. 344. 
Fremont, John C. 364. 
Fugitive Slave law, 23. 

Getttsbubo cemetery.dedication, 323. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



535 



Ck)vernors of loyal States. 

Their services during the war, 170, 
433. 

In advance of the general govern- 
ment, 190. 
Grant. Ulytses .S. 

In the Mississippi valley, 309. 

At Chattanooga. 312. 

At the head ot the armies, 326. 

Plan of campaign, '627, 3i8, 329. 

On waste of life in war, 328. 

Begins advance on Richmond, 342. 

Campaign after the Wilderness, 
378, 379 

Receives surrender of Lee's army, 
390-394, 

Magnanimity of his treatment of 
Lee's army, 392,393. 
Greeley. Horace. 

Examination of proposals for 
peace, 303. 
Gray beard regiment, 18(5. 

Hampton, Wade. 395. 
Hawley, Jo'^eph R. 

Raised first, company of volunteers 

in Hart otd, 133. 
Brevetted m ' jor general, 292. 
Chai-actprization of Governor 
'rrumbull, 478. 
Home Samuel K 

First Volunteer in Connecticut, 
132. 

Johnson, Andrew. 

Opponent of secession, 3(j6. 

Nominated as vice-president, 3b6. 

Course as president. 437. 

Impeachment proceedings, 437. 
Johnston. Joseph E., 225, 227, 345, 349, 

37t!, 393. 
Johnston's turrender, terms of, 400. 

Kansas outrages, 25, 26, 27. 
Kinney, John C, 374, 510. 

Lebanon. 

A typical Kew England town, 4. 

Its famous school, 5. 

Its influence on Governor Buck- 
ingham, 6. 

War office, ti. 

The town characterized by Dr. 
Tarbox, 478. 
Lee, RobPrt E. 

His Army of Northern Virginia, 
330. 

At Peiersburg, 381-.386. 

Surrender at Appomattox, 388-393. 
Leech, John. 

His tribute to Lincoln in London 
Punch, 411. 
Lee's surrender, terms of, 391. 
Lincoln, Abraham. 

'In Connecticut in 1860. 49, 166. 

Nomination as president, 54, 60. 

Debate with I )ouglas, 54-59. 

Electi<min]860, 61. 

Effect of his election in the South. 
67. 

Journey to Washington, 94-100. 

Inauguration, 101-107. 



Plot to assassinate him in 1861,93. 

(Speeches in 1861, .5-97. 

Farewell address to his townsmen, 
101. 

His first message, 105, 106. 

Cabinet of 1861, 109. 

His views when he became presi- 
dent. 112. 

Rising to the greatness of the oc- 
casion. 161. 

Correspondence with McClellan, 
220, 234. 

Plan for freeing the slaves by pur- 
cha.se. 256. 

Emancipation proclamation, 264, 
267. 

Cost of slaves and cost of war 
compared. 258, 259. 

Interview with Governor Buck- 
ingham, 262. 

Expression as to slavery in his 
second inaugural message, 266. 

His Christian spirit, 321. 

Loss of his son 323. 

Address at Gettysburg, 324. 

Conversation with Sherman on 
the conduct of the war, 342. 

General Sherman's opinion of him, 
343. 

Nomination in 1864, 365. 

Declaration as to slavery, 367. 

Surreoder of the Confederate 
armies. 390, 406. 

His assassination, 403-413, 

His character, 406. 

Effect of the assassination on the 
country, 407-411. 

John Leech's recognition of him in 
Punch, AW. 

Lincoln's assassination (see as- 
sassination of Lincoln.) 
Louisiana territory, 19. 20. 
Lookout Mountain, 316. 
Loyal governors (see governors of 

loval states ) 
Lyon, Nathaniel, 302, 303, 304. 

Malvern Hill, 221 
Maximilian in Mexico, 448-451. 
McClellan, George B. 

Commander in Chief, 215. 

Characterized. 21.5. 

Advance on Richmond along the 
Chickahominy. 227. 

Retreat to Harrison's Landing, 
238-243. 

Complaint of the government, 234. 

Retirement from command and 
from the army, 255. 

Nominated for president, 365. 
McCurdy, Charles ■) , 79. 
Mexican Empire, 448-451. 
Mexican war unpopular, 23. 
Missionary Kidge. 315. 
Mississippi valley cleared, 309. 
Missouri, its admission as a slave 

state. 21. 
Missouri compromise, 19,21. 
Mobile Bay, 371. 
Monitor. 

The money for it furnished by C. S. 
Bushnell of New Haven, 274. 



536 



ALl'HABIiTICAL INDPLX. 



Monroe Doctriiic. 

Application to Mexico, 450. 
Its English origin, 450. 

Navy and army disorganized at the 

opening of the war, ICO. 
New Orleans under Gen. Butler, 182. 

Patriotism of the volunteers, 138. 

I'eace by concession, 363. 

Peace Convention, 78-92. 

Peace meetings. 73, 78, 184,209,274, 279. 

Peace resolutions at Philadelphia, 75. 

Peace Party. 

Condition in 1864, 362 

Attempts to do something in 1864, 
363 
Peninsular campaign. 

General account, 223-246. 

Delay in preparation, 219-222. 

Orders as to the city of Washing- 
ton, 220 

Plans of attack and defense, 227, 
228. 

Battles of, 230, 232, 239, 240. 
Pennsylvania reserve. 290. 
Perkins, George L., 148. 
Petersburg aod Richmond, 380. 
Pierce, Franklin, 274. 
Port Royal, 203. 
Presidential campaign of, 1860. 

Democratic conventions, 46, 47, 60. 

Republican convention, 47, 60. 

Constitutional Union convention, 
61. 

Reconstruction, 430. 
Reformation, Battle song of the, 320. 
Republican party. 

Inception, 40. 

Gain of states in 1859, 43. 

Gains in 1864, 366. 
Richmond 

Condition of during Peninsular 
campaign, 224. 

Visit to after its evacuation, 420, 
429. 

Sanitary Commission, 297. 
Secession. 

Advocated in Congress. 46. 
History to the time of the war, 

63-73. 
Cabinet officers betray their trnit, 

65. 
Governor Gisfs message of No- 
vember, 1860, 07. 
South Carolina's haste to lead the 

movement, 68-72. 
Peace conventions, 73-92. 
Buchanan's position, 44, 64, 76. 
Rebellion or revolution. 77. 
At the time of Lincoln's inaugu- 
ration, 111. 
Trials of negotiation and diplo- 
macy, 362-366. 
Collapse, 387-400. 
Sedgwick. John, 304, 305, 332. 
Seward. William H.. 98, 109, 110, 207, 

208. 248, 303, 405. 
Seymour, Horatio, 7fi, 275, 278. 
Seymour, Thomas H., 47. 



Shenandoah Valley, 379. 
Sheridan, P. H., 337-340. 
Sherman, Willi dm T. 

Meridian expedition, 310. 

At Chattanooga, 315. 

March througn Georgia, 342-359. 

Marching North, 374. 

Arranging Johnston's surrender, 
394-4UI. 

His error in this matter, 399, 400. 
402. 
Sixteenth Connecticut resiment in 

Andersonville, 251, 252. 
Slavery. 

Its history before the war. 17-30. 

Early understanding that it should 
cease at last, 18. 

Virginia and ttie Northwest Terri- 
tory, 19. 

Extension of the system, 19-28. 

How its supporters made war 
necessary, y8, 29. 

Governor Buckingham's declara- 
tion in his first message. 35, 38. 

The contest from 1854 to 1860, 39. 

Heloer's Impending Crisis, 45. 

The Lecompton constitution, 56. 

Buchanan's cabinet divided by 
slavery, 65. 

Conciliatory attitude of the North, 
73. 

Slaves freed under the common 
law, 85. 

Lincoln's plan for freedom through 
purchase. 256-260. 

Emancipation proclamation, 264. 

Cost of slaves and co^t of war, 
258, 259. 

George Bancroft on slavery, 261. 

Governor BuckingDam's letter to 
President Lincoln. 262. 

B. P. Butler's abhorrence of 
slavery, 265. 

Lincoln in his message in 18t)5, 
266, 367. 

Constitutional amendment, 367, 
436. 

Work of loyal governors, 434. 

Bishop Galloway ou emancipa- 
tion. 438. 
Smith, Caleb H.. 109. 
Southern empire, Hope of, 177. 
Stanton. Edwin M., 65. 
Stephens, Alexander H., 3.57. 
Sumter. 

Attack on, 113-115. 

The news in South Carolina, 116. 

The news at the North, 118. 

Teury, Alfred H., 186, 193. 
Thanksgiving, First national, 318. 
Tisdale, .^ athan, 5. 
Towns offer to support families of 

soldiers, 133. 
Trent affair, 2i '4-208. 
Trinity College volunteers. 137. 
Trowbridge, Thomas R., 137. 
Trumbull, David, 5. 
Trumbull, John, 5. 
Trumbull, .lonathan, 5. 
Trumbull, Jonathan. Jr., 5. 
Trumbull, Joseph, 5. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



537 



Trumbull family, 478. 
Tyler, Daniel, 188, 290. 
Tyler, Robert O., 188. 

" Uprising of a great people," 160. 

Vallandingham, 273, 274. 
Volunteers. 

Unlimited number authorized, 180. 
Calls for new levies, 122, 248, 307, 

32(3. 
Orders of Governor Andrew and 

Governor Buckingham, 249. 
Yo'es of, 302. 

War Democrats, 156. 
War meetings, 250. 
War of the Kebellion. 
The outbreak, 109-117. 
The news North and South, 116- 

120. 
Service of the loyal newspapers, 

120. 
First call for troops, 122. 
EiTects of treason in Buchanan's 

cabinet, 124-126. 
Connecticut's answer to the call 

for troops. 128-153. 
Woman's work. 141, 187. 
Popular enthusiasm, 150. 
Action of the Connecticut leg is 

lature, 156. 
Bull Run, 172, 177. 
The wonderful response to calls 

for volunteers, 186. 
Fort Fisher, 193 
Review of the situation up to 1862, 

202. 
Connecticut's contribution in the 

first year of the war, 211. 



Peninsular campaign, 923-246. 

A turning point, 270. 

Review of the situation to July, 
18B3, 276. 

Bounties, 283, 284. 

Summary of calls for troops, 28f;. 

Connecticut's contribution to the 
army, 287. 

Condition of both sides in .Tuly, 
1863, 307. 308. 

Waste of life, 308, 309, 328. 

Recruiting the armies, 311. 

A (luestion of endurance. 325. 

Situation in May, 1864, 326. 

Wilderness campaign, 331-330 

Losses in this campaign, 341. 

Situation at the beginning of 1.S65, 
370. 

Lee's surrender, 368-394. 

Johnston's surrender, 394-400. 

Cost of the war, 414. 

Number of men in the field, 414. 

Disbanding the army, 415. 

Review in Washington, 415-418. 
Washington, George, 6. 
Washington, review in at close of the 

war. 415-418. 
Waste of life in war, 328. 
Week of battles. 229. 
Welles, Gideon, 109. 
Wesleyan students in the war, 137. 
Wideawake clubs, 50. 
Williams, Rev. Solomon, 4, 5. 
Wilmot proviso, 22. 
Winsted's prompt action to furnish 
soldiers, 1-32. 

Yale students volunteer, I3i;. 
Yorktown. 223. 



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